F1 gears up for more rule changes

Mar 19, 2009, 14:15 GMT

Hamburg - The 2009 Formula One season sees a raft of rule changes with the driver's championship decided by number of race wins, tighter aerodynamic regulations, the return of slick tyres, the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) and the end of in-season testing.

The most comprehensive rule changes in recent years are all part of the sport's attempt to make racing more entertaining while also cutting costs in an effort to ride out the global economic crisis.

In a bid to boost audiences, motorsport's ruling body FIA rubber- stamped on March 17 many proposals put forward by the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), although it rejected its idea for a new points system that sees race winners earn 12 points instead of 10.

Instead, motorsport's ruling body has decided to make the highest number of wins in a season, rather than the highest number of points, the chief criterion in deciding the drivers' championship.

Had that been the case last season Felipe Massa rather than Lewis Hamilton would have been crowned champion.

FIA president Max Mosley has described the sport's new regulations as the most dramatic change in nearly three decades while Bernie Ecclestone, who had argued for an Olympic-style medal system, said the F1 teams had adapted well to the economic downturn.

'I don't get the impression that this crisis has caused any problems, which is a big surprise,' said the F1 supremo.

The revised aerodynamic regulations come into force following consultations with FIA technical head Charlie Whiting and the technical directors of Renault, Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.

The objective is to reduce the amount of disturbance a following car experiences so as to make overtaking less difficult.

In order to achieve this, the front wings will be wider and driver-adjustable while the area for turning vanes and bargeboards has been severely restricted.

The rear wings on cars will be higher and narrower and it is hoped that the measures will lead to as much as a 50-per-cent loss in downforce.

Williams team technical chief Sam Michael has already said he believes the changes will lead to a 'massive' increase in overtaking as the new front-wing setup would aid overtaking moves under braking on corners.

The decrease in aerodynamic grip will be partially offset by an increase in mechanical grip thanks to the reintroduction of slick tyres.

As last year, each driver will have to use two different types of tyres during the race. Bridgestone will provide a range of four different tyres and the F1 technical directors hope to achieve up to eight per cent more mechanical grip.

Probably the most controversial innovation involves the KERS system, which provides drivers with a short burst of power on each lap from energy stored under braking.

F1 teams are developing different KERS systems and it remains to be seen how great an effect the new technology will have.

McLaren, Ferrari, BMW-Sauber and Renault are all hoping to have the system in their cars for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 29.

However, Toyota and Williams have already said they won't have KERS installed in their cars in Melbourne while Red Bull's Adrian Newey has raised safety concerns surrounding the mostly battery- powered devices.

As part of the efforts to cut costs, teams will only be allowed to use eight engines for the whole year, with a driver incurring a penalty if he uses a ninth engine. However, there is no three consecutive race rule and the teams can use the engines as they like.

The safety car rules introduced as recently as 2007, which saw the pit lane closed for a period of time after the safety cars deployment to prevent drivers rushing back to the pits, have been abolished and organizers have gone back to the 2006 regulations.

The previous regulations were heavily criticised last season when several drivers were penalised for pitting to avoid running out of fuel.

This season the pit lane will remain open at all times, but a new electronic system will calculate a minimum time for each driver to get back to the pits. The driver will receive this message in his cockpit.

Another area where F1 is looking to slash costs in 2009 is testing. The maximum amount of testing has been halved from 30,000 to 15,000 kilometres while there is also a complete ban on in-season testing.

Wind testing has been cut to a maximum of 40 hours per week for each team.