Welcome to part two of The Lowdown’s 2009 Formula One World Championship preview.  Today, I look at the new rules that have completely changed the face of Formula One. As a bonus, I also look at the one new track that will host a grand prix this season.

Points System
There was a fair amount of drama surrounding this one over the last week.  The FIA had decided that the world champion would be the driver who won the most races. Every other place in the Drivers’ Championship and the Constructors’ Championship would have determined by the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system.  The teams and drivers all decided that was a dumb idea so they used the FIA’s rules against them.  All changes to the rules made by the FIA have to made by the end of November and any later changes have to be approved by all teams.  When all teams spoke out against the rule, the FIA delayed the rule’s implementation until 2010.  So this season, the winner will be determined by the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 point system.

Tires
The tires are now going to be slick as opposed to grooved. Bridgestone will produce four different compounds (super soft, soft, medium, and hard) and bring two to each race. Drivers must use both compounds during the race. To know which compound a driver is on, the sidewall of the softer compound at the race will have a green stripe on the sidewall. Also, the compounds brought to a weekend will be farther apart in the range. For example, a race last year that had super soft and soft tire would have super soft and medium this year.

Aerodynamics
This will be the most noticeable change in the regulations. The front wings have been made wider and lower while the rear wings are narrower and higher. Most of the barge board, turning vanes, mid-wings, viking horns, and sidepod wings have been banned. The idea is to reduce the amount of “dirty air” coming off a car. While cars in dirty air can draft up to the car in front of them, they have reduced downforce which causes them to lose out under braking and in corners. While the cars should now run in tighter packs, overtaking might be more difficult without as strong a slipstream effect. The drivers will be able to adjust the angle of the front wing by six degrees while the car is on track.

Engine
Teams are now limited to eight engines over the course of the 17 race season and do not have to run engines consecutively for multiple weekends. If a driver does use a ninth engine, he will be penalized 10 spots on the starting grid when he first uses the new engine but not in any subsequent races with that specific engine. Teams will also get four engines specifically for use during practise. The rev limit has been reduced from 19,000 RPM to 18,000 RPM.

KERS
This was one of the most hyped rule changes heading into 2009. KERS is the Kinetic Energy Recovery System. Energy from brake heat will be stored in either a battery or a second flywheel. That energy is available to a driver using a boost button on his steering wheel. The regulations allow for an 82 horsepower boost for 6 seconds a lap. Safety and reliability of the systems have been a major concern of teams heading into this season as several mechanics have been shocked by cars with KERS on-board. Also, the added weight of KERS means that teams looking to stay at the minimum weight limit (and they will stay light because 10 kg is worth 3-tenths of a second) won’t have the ability to adjust ballast on the car which compromises handling.  The KERS is not compulsory in 2009 so teams do not have to run it in every round.   So far, only Ferrari and Renault are expected to run KERS at Australia.

Racing
The pit lane will no longer be closed when the safety car comes on track. Instead, the on-board software will limit the speed of the cars so they don’t speed back to the pit lane. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. The weights of all the cars will be published after qualifying so that everyone has a general idea of which strategy each team is using.

Schedule and Tracks
The schedule is reduced by one race to 17 after the loss of the Canadian and French grands prix but with the addition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which will host the final round of the championship. The German Grand Prix returns to the Nurburgring and the Japanese GP returns to Suzuka. The Chinese Grand Prix will be the third race of the season this year while Turkey will be run after the Monaco GP taking Canada’s spot. As for the new track, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be held at the Yas Marina Circuit. The track was designed by Herman Tilke (which means we should be able to skip the race once we know the qualifying results) to be the focal point of a residential and commercial development surrounding the track.

2009 F1 Preview:
Part 1: Teams
Part 2: Rules
Part 3: Predictions (March 25)