With eight races behind us in the Formula One World Championship, it's now
time to see if the changes in the regulations have had the desired effect:
more overtaking and thus more exciting races. Several surveys had revealed
that the fans very desperately wanted to see more action on the track. The
new aerodynamic regulations, the result of recommendations made by the FIA
Overtaking Working Group, the introduction of KERS and the return of the
slick tyres were all part of a plan to make overtaking in Formula One
easier.
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The most successful teams in 2010, Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing. Photo by xpb.cc.
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The double-decker diffuser
At the start of the season, we were all pleasantly surprised by the
miraculous revival of the Honda team, now operating under the name Brawn
GP. The successes of Brawn drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello
have without a doubt also sparked new enthusiasm for the sport. The other
two teams using a similar diffuser, Williams and Toyota, also did
remarkably well at the start of the season.
But soon there was trouble in paradise, many teams felt the double-decker
diffuser used by the afore mentioned teams was the only reason for their
successes and tried to convince the FIA to ban the design. After a few
meetings the FIA concluded the diffuser was within the regulations and that
left the other teams with no other option than to build their own version
of the double-decker diffuser.
In a way it was quite funny to see that the idea of the double-decker
diffuser was not part of the FIA plan to make overtaking easier (some
people suggest it makes overtaking more difficult), but was the result of
the ingenuity of the designers, who were just exploring the loopholes in
the new technical regulations, something that is as old as Formula One
itself.
The story is always the same, every revolutionary design is always greeted
with protests from other competitors. When Colin Chapman came up with the
idea of the reverse wing effect in 1979, other teams started protesting and
demanded the FIA would outlaw the design. To no avail, Lotus won the
championship with Mario Andretti behind the wheel. And now, thirty years
on, the reverse wing effect is considered to be one of the most innovative
designs in Formula One ever.
If you look at the former Champ car series, or the current IRL series, you
will see that there are no technical innovations possible, simply because
most parts of the cars and engines are standardized, and the rules are very
tight, which means designers have no business in IRL. If Formula One wants
to be the pinnacle of motorsports, standardized cars, engines and gearboxes
are a dead-end street.
KERS
Several team principals today claim that the introduction of the KERS
system was a costly mistake. The system was introduced at the same time the
new aerodynamic regulations for 2009 were introduced, which made it even
more difficult for teams to evaluate the pros and cons of the system. The
FIA didn't make the KERS system mandatory, and that resulted in a bad start
for Max Mosley's brainchild. At the start of the 2009 season Brawn-
Mercedes, Red Bull Racing and Toyota announced they would not use the
system, and coincidence or not, they seem to do remarkably well without it.
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Red Bull Racing, successful without KERS. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Only BMW-Sauber, Ferrari, McLaren and Renault have sofar used the system
this year, Force India would use the system provided by Mercedes, and Toro
Rosso the Ferrari system. But both teams recently decided they would not go
ahead with their KERS plans, and are now instead concentrating on the
development of their aerodynamic package.
BMW-Sauber has also dumped the system, arguing it will be easier for them
to evaluate their revised aerodynamics, and they feel more progress can be
made without the installation of KERS. The Williams team -- like BMW, also a
strong advocate of the system -- spent millions on their flywheel based
version of KERS, but has sofar never used the device during a race. The
flywheel version of KERS is even heavier than the electronic version, and
Williams designer Patrick Head believes the extra weight could have a
negative impact on the handling of the FW31.
Renault hasn't used the system during the last few races and are also
concentrating on the development of the aerodynamics of their car. Ferrari
has used the system primarily as a replacement for the banned electronic
launch control, but are now also considering to abandon it for the
remainder of the season. McLaren used KERS during all races, but at
Silverstone Hamilton raced without it, and it seems McLaren is also
considering to abandon the system.
A few weeks ago, the FOTA announced they wanted to abandon the system
entirely in 2010. Flavio Briatore about KERS: "The FOTA immediately
understood that KERS would turn out to be a money-eating device and the FIA
should have taken note of this. It was necessary to discuss this prior to
the season, as should have been the case with the diffusers. Not having
done that forced us to spend amounts of money that are just as ridiculous
as useless."
The costs of the development of KERS for all teams together have been
estimated between $50 and $100 million, whatever the correct figure is, it
is a lot of money. The impact the system would have was overestimated, with
only 60 kW power output for six seconds it doesn't really improve the lap
times, and the argument KERS would improve overtaking, becomes worthless at
the moment all cars are fitted with the system. With the FOTA presently
seeking a ban of the system, it seems that KERS will die a quiet death.
Overtaking
There are a few problems with the evaluation of easier overtaking. Some
circuits have very good overtaking opportunities, and other circuits have
not. Overtaking is also a driver's skill, some drivers are very good in
exploiting overtaking opportunities, others are not and are stuck behind
another car for many laps before they find a way to get past. It also
depends on what your interpretation of the term 'easier overtaking' is.
KERS could be helpful in creating more overtaking opportunities, but when a
driver pushes his KERS button to overtake the car in front of him on the
straight, we can hardly call that an exciting action, and from a spectators
point of view it doesn't really add anything to the show. And in the end,
whether a driver succeeds to overtake or not is irrelevant, it is the
actual battle for a position that makes a race more attractive for
spectators.
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The field is much closer together this year. Photo by xpb.cc.
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There is also the trade-off between easy overtaking on the one hand, and
closely matched lap times on the other hand. If there is only 0.2 second
difference in lap times between two cars, it is inevitable overtaking will
be more difficult. But closer lap times also mean the field will be closer
together, which in its turn leads to closer racing and more cars dicing for
positions, and that definitely improves the show.
After eight races
With still nine races left on the F1 calendar, it is perhaps too early to
give the final verdict, but the F1 field is now much tighter than it was in
the past, a difference of 0.2 second during qualifying this season, could
mean the difference between fifth or fifteenth place. Cars are closer
together and this creates more overtaking opportunities. The 'easier to
overtake' plans of the FIA were sabotaged by rain during the races in
Malaysia and China, but both races were nevertheless spectacular to watch.
Although Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing sofar won all races, it doesn't mean
races were boring. Due to the revised aerodynamic regulations teams like
McLaren and BMW-Sauber are now fighting at the back of the field (they
obviously have a major problem with the design of their car), giving other
teams the opportunity to score some points.
The last races at Istanbul and Silverstone were less attractive because the
leaders were way ahead of the rest of the field, but we did see some good
dog fights at the back of the field. Some drivers complained they were
'stuck' behind another car, but a well planned tactical pit stop could have
changed that situation. All in all, I think there is no reason to conclude
that the 'easier to overtake' regulations didn't have a positive effect on
Formula One this year.
The only thing that definitely had a negative impact on Formula One is the
ongoing war between the FIA and FOTA. Although it seems there is now an
agreement between the two parties about the regulations for 2010, this
doesn't mean the war is over. Many decisions still have to be made before
2010, and I'm sure we will see more political cat-and-mouse games between
the FIA and the FOTA.
But let's stick to our subject, overtaking. As said before, it's the battle
for a position that makes a race more attractive, not the overtaking
itself. Remember the legendary dual between Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell
in the streets of Monaco in 1992? During the last laps of the race Mansell
in his Williams tried to overtake Senna's McLaren to take first place, he
tried left, right, on the outside, on the inside, he braked later,
accelerated earlier, he tried every trick in the book and more, but did not
succeed in overtaking him. Very frustrating for Mansell, but boy, wasn't it
spectacular to watch?
