Cutting the costs incurred by the teams has been the latest issue at FIA. They are hell bent on reducing the amount spent by each team so as to neutralise the obvious advantage teams with bigger budget had. It is being argued that by limiting the budget of teams, there is a hope for the lesser teams to aim for a podium finish, thus making the races more interesting.
Another motive behind all of this is to impose stricter reliability of engines on the team. Also, a study carried out by a combined team of aerodynamics engineers of a few teams seems to indicate that to overtake you need to be 2 seconds faster than the car ahead of you on an average. Thus the chances of overtaking in a F1 race are usually bleak, and the most gain or loss in positions occur only at the start or during the pits. This discourages new people from following F1, because you generally need to have a fair amount of background and idea about the rules and their implications before you start enjoying the sport.
Drastic rule changes have been implemented in the past few years, and more have been planned for the next few. I would like to chalk out a few here.
One of the major changes has been the re-introduction of slick tyres. The use of slick tyres was banned in the 1997 season. Since then the grooved tyres have been used. This was done to constrain escalating cornering speeds. However, with recent emphasis being on the mechanical setup of the car rather than the aerodynamic, the slick tyres are back into picture. The increased grip though will be offset by the reduced downforce resultant from major changes to the aerodynamic regulations.
The aerodynamics is the next most important change to be introduced. Cleaner bodywork and reduced downforce are being imposed from the next season. Changes to front and rear wings will be easily noticeable. The purpose is to aid overtaking manuevers by reducing the susceptibility of the following car to the turbulence created by the car right in front. The new cars will look much different than those used in the 2008 season. Not all drivers are happy about this change though.
The Kinetic Energy Recovery System is an optional engineering feature that could be installed in the cars from the forthcoming season. It recovers the otherwise waste kinetic energy generated by cars braking. The recovered energy is then made available to the driver by pressing a boost button. Apparently this technology could cut down the lap time by about seven tenths of a second. However the teams are all facing difficulties implementing this system. Safety of the driver is a key concern.
Another significant change is to the engine life. Last year required the drivers to use one engine over two races. This season onwards the same engine has to be used for three races, thus dramatically reducing the cost spent on engines and requiring better reliability from the teams.
Another idea that seems to be doing rounds is the normalization of engines among all the teams. A single specification engine shall be used by all the teams. This has provoked different reactions from teams. A few have threatened to break away from F1 such a move would nullify the interest that a constructor team would have in a sport like F1. Fans also complain that the introduction of such a rule shall eliminate the differences between the NASCAR and F1.
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