PDA

View Full Version : Analysis: 2010 Formula One regulations



ryanallan
05-01-2009, 01:40 PM
At first I was really hating the idea of budget caps, but the more I think about it the more it makes scene. Back in the days when Ferrari was spending $500m per season, it didnt matter how smart the engineers were on the other teams. Ferrari could just out spend them to win. With the new caps, and the relaxed regulations, ingenuity will once again win races.
I wonder if anyone will run a four wheel drive car !


Refuelling banned
First of all, the council has confirmed that refuelling will be banned as of 2010. There have been talks about this change for a while, mostly because it will have a considerable impact for the car's designs. At some circuits fuel consumption is currently as high as 3l per lap, requiring next year's cars to have fuel tanks of approximately 180l, maybe even more. To put this in perspective, most teams currently have tanks of about 90l. The change will remove the need to transport the 20 heavy refuelling rigs to each race venue, while on the sportive side we may again see drivers having to save fuel at some point during the race. It may even come to situations as in the late 80's where drivers just ran out of fuel towards the end of a race.

Increased weight limit
Due to the pressure of BMW Sauber who want to reduce the disadvantage heavier drivers have now, the minimum weight has been increased from 605kg to 620kg.

Safety measures for the front wing
In the margin of changes, the new rules also stipulate an extended area where bodywork components must have a minimum radius to prevent damage to an opponent's tyre in case of a collision:


3.4.2 In order to prevent tyre damage to other cars, the top, forward and outer edges of the lateral extremities of any bodywork more than 450mm ahead of the front wheel centre line and more than 750mm from the car centre line must be at least 10mm thick with a radius of at least 5mm.

More strict KERS regulations
As of 2010, the KERS may not be activated when a car is travelling at more than 300km/h. This change will effectively eliminate the possibility to use KERS for additional top speed but instead allow its use to more quickly attain than top speed. In addition to that, homologated sensors on the system will be required. The position of the KERS storage device - whether it is a flywheel or a battery pack - will have to be located ahead of the front of the engine and behind the driver. It is believed that all current KERS cars nearly comply to this regulation already.


5.2.5 All KERS energy storage devices must be situated between the front face of the engine and the driver's back when viewed in lateral projection. When establishing the front face of the engine, no parts of the fuel, oil, water or electrical systems will be considered. 5.2.6 Cars must be fitted with homologated sensors which provide all necessary signals to the SDR in order to verify the requirements above are being respected.

Budget capped regulation set

With the start of 2010, an additional regulation formula will be introduced that will put teams on a budget limit of £45 million. In exchange these will receive more technical freedom.

More power from the engine
One of these particularities is the removal of the 18000rpm limit. Whether this will prove interesting is something else, as the teams will be using the same standardised engines as all other competitors. Because these have been designed to last long enough to manage a full season with 8 engines, reliability may be severely compromised if teams choose to run them at higher speeds. Apart from this worry, increased speed will also come with increased fuel consumption. The teams willing to run their engines at higher rpm consistently will have to build larger fuel tanks and be slower at the beginning of the race due to their higher fuel ballast.

Moveable aerodynamics
Budget controlled teams will be allowed to have their front wing adjusted by 10°, a surplus of 4° over the teams that choose to go with the conventional rule set. They will also be allowed to adjust the front wing's incidence any time they find it appropriate - and not limited to twice a lap. The rear wing will also be adjustable and can greatly help to boost a car on high speed sections of a circuit.


3.18.2 The incidence of the upper section described in Article 3.10.2 (if two sections are used) may be varied whilst the car is in motion, provided any such change maintains compliance with all of the bodywork dimensional regulations. Alteration of the incidence of this section may only be commanded by direct driver input and controlled using the control electronics specified in Article 8.2. This Article applies only to Cost-Regulated Teams.

Doubled KERS power
Perhaps the most interesting benefit for these teams will be the double power allowed from their KERS devices. The cars will be allowed to release twice the energy - in and out - with KERS. Hence, with the same KERS system, they can use the additional 60hp for up to 12s per lap. Or, alternatively, the system can be adapted to have 120hp available during 6s.


5.2.3 The maximum power, in or out, of any KERS must not exceed 60kW. Energy released from the KERS may not exceed 400kJ in any one lap. Measurements will be taken at the connection to the drivetrain. For Cost-Regulated Teams only the following will apply :
- the power in is unrestricted ;
- the power out is limited to 120kW ;
- the energy released per lap is limited to 800kJ ;
- measurements will be taken at any FIA approved point in the drivetrain.

Four wheel drive
On top of that, cost regulated teams will be allowed four wheel drive. For those teams, article 9.1 of the technical regulations that states "No transmission system may permit more than two wheels to be driven." has been scrapped from the rulebook. While there is an extensive range of possibilities to exploit this change, it is most likely that teams will add a motor-generator for their KERS systems to the front wheels, allowing to charge the KERS device with brake energy from the front wheels too, whereas this is currently not allowed. As a direct consequence, the front wheels are also allowed to be powered by KERS.

Complete testing freedom
Currently teams are not allowed any in-season testing. However, it will be up to the budget-limited teams when they test in 2010, as long as they don't exceed their limited yearly budget.

Full scale windtunnel testing
The cost-reducing regulation that allows teams only to run 50% scale models in their wind tunnels will be removed for teams complying with the budget limitation.

civic_stylez
05-01-2009, 03:30 PM
I agree with the budget cap to a certain extent.... it will allow the smaller teams a better chance to compete...( paul stoddart and eddie jordan would have loved this) but I hope it doesnt slow the technological development of the sport.. I know the engines and other parts are exempt.

For the re fueling part, thats gay as hell... thats one of the best parts of the pit stop. Fuel strategy is a very important part of the race and guys like Brawn study that stuff forever!

The best way to make teams more competitive is to stick with the same rules for more than one season to allow teams to adapt!

The FiA is going to kill this sport.

DJ Lazy
05-01-2009, 09:06 PM
I absolutely HATE the no re-fueling rule as well... I think its the dumbest thing ever...


The best way to make teams more competitive is to stick with the same rules for more than one season to allow teams to adapt!

Sooo true!! :banghead:

Cos
05-02-2009, 10:12 PM
to be honest, I like the benefit to the cap following teams.

stevieo
05-12-2009, 10:46 AM
sounds like ferrari doesn't like it.
http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=278433

EK 2.0
05-12-2009, 11:14 AM
No refueling??...

This is a RACE...not a Sunday cruise...

Trini
05-12-2009, 11:35 AM
Originally posted by EK 2.0
No refueling??...

This is a RACE...not a Sunday cruise...

:werd:

and fuel stops can add some excitement in races.e.g. Massa in Singapore last season

Team_Mclaren
05-12-2009, 12:23 PM
before everyone jumps on the return of no-refueling, this isnt the first time it has happened.

read on, i agree with it to some degree: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/05/03/why-f1-will-be-better-without-refuelling/

Also, the two tier system wont work and it WILL not be implemented unless there're radical changes to it. Its the same shit with the winner takes all rule, which they also scraped for 2010 even though FIA "PROMISED" that it'll be back next year. Without the big names, no one would watch this shit, they cant afford to lose Ferrari, BMW, Toyota (Ferrari mainly...).

There's no cap this year, and look where Ferrari and Mclaren is.

Hakkola
05-12-2009, 05:34 PM
Originally posted by EK 2.0
No refueling??...

This is a RACE...not a Sunday cruise...

Exactly, which is why the outcome should be decided by driver skill and vehicle performance, not how often or how long it takes to fill up.

z06power
05-12-2009, 05:43 PM
I don't know, the FIA seems way to eager to overturn the existing sport heritage and establish all kinds of crazy rule changes. If ferrari leaves; the sports future may be in jeapordy - especially since toyota and red bull don't want the cap either.

beyond_ban
05-12-2009, 05:49 PM
[waits for rage2]

Mibz
05-12-2009, 05:57 PM
"Too much strategy"
"Not enough strategy"
"Should be decided by drivers"
"Should be decided by cars"
"Keep the rules"
"Change the rules"

All I hear is "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW"

irs
05-13-2009, 07:21 AM
Now today renault is jumping on board to pull out.
What a friken Circus! :banghead:

Why do they insisit to do this every couple of years. :thumbsdow

fluid
05-18-2009, 08:15 PM
no refueling...wtf, can you imagine someone in first place about to win...and then the car stops....

buh_buh
05-18-2009, 08:21 PM
Originally posted by fluid
no refueling...wtf, can you imagine someone in first place about to win...and then the car stops.... yeah, this happened all the time in the late 80s and early 90s.

http://www.singaporegp.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/wallpaper-nigel-mansell-gives-ayrton-senna-a-ride.jpg

It may not be such a bad thing. We'll see Q3 times as the quickest times of the weekend as it has been criticized, and stops playing more of a factor since refuelling now typically takes longer than tire changes, so it allows for more uniform stops.

wadadah
05-19-2009, 12:10 AM
ok, iam a Mclaren fan, f1 wise, i hate Ferrari and Alonzo lol, but all these rule changes iam pretty sure have been looked at carefully financial wise, meaning, the amount of people that will stay up late or wake up early to watch a f1 race when nowing its either ferrari or maclaren is going to be first or second, with another team finishing 3rd or maybe even winning due to rain or a crash.
i will always be a mclaren fan, but a f1 fan first...i will still wake up early to watch qually and races every race weekend, hoping for the day we get our act toghter get with these new rules..

also what people dont realize, is that teams at the top at the end of 2008 season,were using all their resources to win a champion ship, while teams at the bottom or middle or even none existing were just cruising with what they had and were able to get a jump start on the 2009 cars (season rule changes), time management is the future of f1, so enjoy your time at the top button, lewis is coming lol...

fluid
05-20-2009, 10:59 AM
so? id rather see a race that is actually a race; not cars that aren't driving to their full potential to save on fuel.
oh well, one way or another were going to have to watch it as it is, it sucks to be a pawn.

kdwebber
05-20-2009, 12:12 PM
if they are going to make all these crazy changes why not permit other types of gasoline engines? rotary anyone?

wadadah
05-21-2009, 01:24 AM
Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.
King Whitney Jr.

Which one are you?

rage2
05-21-2009, 01:33 AM
Originally posted by fluid
so? id rather see a race that is actually a race; not cars that aren't driving to their full potential to save on fuel.
They already do that regularly. Turn down the revs to save fuel/engine when they know they can't pass anyone else... you just don't see it.

No refueling is awesome back in the heydays of F1 because there were V6's up to V12's all with widely differing fuel consumption qualities. The thirsty V12's ALWAYS run out of fuel. Nowadays with V8's and all being pretty much the same, you won't see the same thing.

What you WILL see, is drivers starting races super heavy, which eats up tires, car balance all over the place, no tire warmers so cold tires for turn 1, and makes driving these things very very tough the first few laps of the race. This is what's going to make things interesting.

The only thing that no refuelling takes away really is fuel strategy, so no more passing in the pits, or a team favoring 1 driver, etc. You need tires, you come in. That's it.

fluid
06-21-2009, 04:28 PM
yes i agree, but there is a difference between knowing you cant pass someone else, and just not being able to because of lack of fuel...
but the thing is that performance will drop, i agree that it isnt the biggest deal in the world; but still like i said, id rather see racing to its most. it seems that taking away fueling just takes away alot of things

quote: fuel strategy, so no more passing in the pits, or a team favoring 1 driver, etc.