The 2009 Formula One season starts this weekend in Melbourne, Australia. With new rules, new cars, and one quasi-new team, there is much uncertainty to be answered. Surprisingly, the driver lineup seems to be the most stable aspect of the new season.
Some of the changes to the cars mandated by the new rules will be readily apparent from their appearance. The rear wings will be taller and narrower. Rear diffusers will have new shapes and some teams are accusing others of running illegal shapes. Hopefully that issue will be resolved before qualifying starts at 1:30 am ET Saturday morning. Gone are most of the flaps, winglets, and other add-ons that sprouted here and there on the 2009 cars. One of the reasons for these new rules is to eliminate the rear turbulences that made it difficult for a following car to get close enough to attempt a pass. Front wings will be wider, lower, and adjustable by the driver. Look for them to be easily damaged through contact with other cars. The Bridgestone tires will return to being full slicks after 10-years of having the required groves. This is expected to a about 8% more grip, off-setting somewhat the loss due to the aerodynamic changes mentioned above.
Then we have the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system). This high-tech device allows energy created from the brakes to be stored and used for acceleration when a button is pushed. Of course the system adds weight to the car that they will attempt to save elsewhere through compromises in items. For the beginning of this season the ten teams have the choice to run with or without a KERS. More uncertainty as to which team will run it and what advantage it might offer. The BMW-Sauber team likes their test results so far, but they figure the advantages of the system will vary from track to track.
Engine configuration rules remain the same, although they are now limited to a maximum of 18,000 rpm. The last two years engines had to be used for two consecutive races without suffering a significant starting-position penalty. For 2009, each car can use up to eight engines throughout the season, and it is up to the teams to determine when an engine should be replaced. This is an attempt to reduce costs for the F1 teams. Another cost-cutting measure is the elimination of in-season testing except for some straight line aerodynamic tests.
Two important changes to the qualifying and race rules: 1. The third qualifying session (“Q3”) has been shorted from 15 to 10 minutes. This will shorten the time teams have to burn up fuel and change to fresh tires for that one golden lap. 2. If a safety car has to be deployed during the race, the pits will now remain open for refueling and other needs, but the cars will be electronically monitored and limited in the speeds they can drive to get to the pits.
One very controversial rule about the means of determining the season’s drivers’ championship has been instituted and then rescinded by the FIA after protests from the teams and drivers. Rather than the champion being the driver that accumulated the most points under the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system, F1 Czar Bernie Ecclestone wanted whoever had the most wins being declared the champ. If this had been in effect last year, Felipe Massa would have been the World Champion.
Early this past winter Honda announced they would not be operating their F1 team in 2009. After attempts to find a well-heeled suitor, team principal Ross Brawn, a Brit, announced he would operate the team as BrawnGP and purchase engines from Mercedes. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have been retained as drivers. Without the winter-testing other teams enjoyed, everyone expected the team to be at a severe disadvantage. But when the Brawn got on the track in early March it surprised all with their dominating speeds. Now the pundits are picking the Brawns to be the front-runner in the early part of this season.
BMW-Sauber (Kubica and Heidfeld), Ferrari (Massa and Raikkonen), McLaren (Hamilton and Kovalainen), Williams (Rosberg and Nakajima), Toyota (Trulli and Glock), Force India (Fisichella and Sutil), and Renault (Alonso and Piquet) are all going with their 2008 driver line up. Red Bull with have Sebastian Vettel moving over from Toro Rosso to join Mark Weber after David Coulthard’s retirement. Vettel’s Toro Rosso seat will be replaced by Sebastien Buemi, joining the other Sebastien – Bourdais.
There are no new tracks being used in the 17-race 2009 season. Of course that means no F1 races in the USA or Canada. In fact, the only race in the whole Western Hemisphere is in Brazil. All but four races will be televised live on the Speed TV cable network. The four exceptions will be carried on the Fox Network (they own Speed) on a delayed basis Sunday afternoons. In addition to the races, the Speed coverage usually includes the second Friday practice session and the Saturday qualifying. So this weekend Melbourne will have practice at 1:30 am Friday, qualifying at 2:00 am Saturday, and the race at 1:30 am Sunday.
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