Tag Archives: refueling ban

Mar201016

Rob

2

Did the new refuelling rules for F1 work in Bahrain?

This years Bahrain GP saw the introduction of a new rule, that the teams can’t refuel the car once it has left the pit lane for the race. This means that the cars must carry enough fuel for the entire race from the start. This means extra weight in the car for the whole distance and the end of the short sprints between pit stops.
When the rule was announced it was unclear what it would achieve in terms of improving the action but it seems the goal was to get rid of the sometimes confusing middle section of the race where different drivers are on different strategies and aren’t really racing each other. The teams are still required to run both tyre compounds during the race so the cars have to stop at least once but that stop can happen at any point in the GP now as the window [...]

Mar201007

Rob

0

With Bahrain just a week away, what’s new for F1 in 2010?

The first race of the 2010 F1 season in Bahrain is just a week away, it seems like it’s been a long winter. There are many things that are different (I won’t say new) this year in F1. New rules, new teams, new drivers and we’ll all see who’s done the best job over the last few months.
There are a few new rules this year such as the refueling ban and the ban on wheel spinners. As well as technical changes like the tyre size and the new points system of 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. I may not agree with all of them – especially the refueling ban, I just don’t see how it can possibly improve overtaking – but they are here and the teams and drivers must make the best use of them.
We will have three new teams on the grid for the first race of the season, Virgin, Lotus and [...]

Feb201014

Rob

0

What’s with all these long runs in the F1 tests? It’s all down to the tyres.

The first two Formula 1 pre-season tests seem have included more long runs than in previous years, but why? I’d say that it’s down to the refueling rule changes for the 2010 season as well as some of the technical regulations around the size of the tyres.
Last year with the re-introduction of slick tyres the teams kept the same size tyres that they had in the grooved days this meant that proportionally the front tyres gained more grip. This was because both front and rear had four grooves that were now part of the contact patch, with the rear tyre being wider it meant that the four grooves worth of grip supplied was less in percentage terms than returning the four grooves to the front. This change upset the balance of the car with the front now being more grippy than the rear. The 2010 regulations revert this balance by [...]

Jan201030

Rob

0

Red Bull

Red Bull finished the 2009 season with the best car, even the guys at Brawn would have said that. They were consistently fast, have great drivers and had the drive and capacity to follow this through all season and if they had designed a double diffuser into the car they probably would have won at least the constructors championship. So what should we expect in 2010?
The team hasn’t had any major changes, with both drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel staying put  - why would they want to move?! Mark Webber should be on form from the start this year after his leg injury and will be wanting to reassert himself over his young team mate Vettel. Vettel has another rival on the scene now for top german and another for most promising young german in the forms of Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg, I don’t think he get lost [...]