Nirenjan’s Space

The FIA has put up some new rules to make Formula 1 all the more interesting. Personally, I feel that these changes won’t really affect Ferrari’s dominance in the sport. Let’s look at these rule changes.

Rule number 1: Engines must last for two races, instead of just one. An engine change before qualifying results in a 10 place penalty on the starting grid, while an engine change before the start of the race will drop the driver to the end of the pack. This change is aimed at cutting costs and improving safety through reduced speeds. No prizes for guessing who has the most reliable engine.

Rule number 2: Qualifying will be held over two days, with the final qualifying session on Sunday morning. The fastest car on Saturday will be the last to go out, while the slowest will be the first to go out onto the morning qualifying session. Saturday and Sunday timings will be aggregated. Thus we won’t really know the grid positions until shortly before the start of the race.

Rule number 3: Aerodynamics has been changed, the front wings have been lifted by 50 mm, while the rear wings have been brought forward by 150 mm. These changes cut the downforce by about 25%. This causes cars to be more “twitchy” (less grip) and hence should be driven at a slower pace to improve safety. William’s co-owner says that the focus in the factories has been to reduce this downforce and that it won’t be until the early races of the season that we know how well the teams have done that. My take on this - it still won’t affect Schumacher’s dominance. Schumacher is one of, no, not one of. He is the best, driver in Formula 1 now. He has driven in all conditions, be it dry or wet, sharp turns or long straights, and the reduced downforce won’t affect his performance in the least.

Rule number 4: There is a new rule that only three sets of tyres can be used for a race, one for Saturday’s practice, one for the qualifying and the race, and one in case of a puncture or debris on the track. Also, the team can have an additional set of wet tyres, which can be used only if the race director proclaims the track to be wet. This means that the tyres will have to be harder and more resilient. Now, since all the teams are using either Bridgestone or Michelin tyres, this rule applies primarily to the tyre manufacturers, and hence affect all the teams. As a result of this rule, pit stops will involve only refilling the fuel, involving less mechanics in the pits, and hence a very different look. Also, tyre changes cannot be combined with refuelling. Personally, I feel that this rule will increase the number of non-finishes.

Heck, it looks like FIA is just playing into Ferrari’s hands. None of these rules will affect Ferrari or Schumacher in any way.

Rules courtesy The Hindu & Business Line, 5th March 2005

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 5th, 2005 at 9:35 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.