The first race of the 2010 season is now just a couple of weeks away and as the cars are packed away in Barcelona today after testing there is time to reflect on the changes for this season.
No Fuel Stops: This change in theory provides the opportunity for teams to reduce weight by increasing fuel efficiency. In practice it has resulted in none of the teams taking up the option of the heavy KERS boost system. We saw during 2009 that some cars and drivers were much kinder on the tyres which will be an advantage this year as teams will try to keep cars out for as long as possible. Cars will still have to use both compounds during the race so tyre stops will be back down to times of about four or five seconds with fewer crew needed.
Let me be the first to christen the final qualifying session “WYSIWYG” Sessions as all cars will be on the lightest fuel they can get away with. This which means this year what you see is what you get, with each car qualifying for the race based on the skills of the driver and not an artificially light load to please the sponsors. After qualifying the cars will be topped up with the fuel that the teams think will get them to the end of the race. But who will be the first driver to suffer the fate of running out of fuel whilst in the lead on the last lap of a race?
Let me be the first to christen the final qualifying session “WYSIWYG” Sessions as all cars will be on the lightest fuel they can get away with. This which means this year what you see is what you get, with each car qualifying for the race based on the skills of the driver and not an artificially light load to please the sponsors. After qualifying the cars will be topped up with the fuel that the teams think will get them to the end of the race. But who will be the first driver to suffer the fate of running out of fuel whilst in the lead on the last lap of a race?
Narrower Front Wheels and no wheel fairings: The size of the wheels are reduced in size from 270mm to 245mm. This will have an impact on grip, particularly into tight turns under braking. Many teams have employed vertical wings on the radiator pods which may be to take advantage of a change in the airflow caused by the narrowing of the tyre surface. Gone will be the Frisbee style aerodynamic wheel covers which we saw cause a few near misses last year.
Rise in Minimum Weight: Cars will now have the minimum weight increased by 15kg. This provides a theoretical opportunity to position ballast to offset the size of the fuel tank.
Next Week: Bahrain Preview.
