Welcome to Part 2 of our preview of the 2010 Formula One World Championship. Today, it’s a look at the rule changes for this season. There aren’t as many new regulations going into effect this year as last year but they’re just as big. Cost reductions and safety are the reasons behind most of the rules changes but that doesn’t mean that the racing will be less interesting.
Points System
While this probably isn’t the biggest overhaul in the rules this year, it’s the one that will affect the championships the most. After all, if you can master the points system, then you can easily pick up some hardware at the end of the year. Look at Jenson Button last year. His first and second halves of the season were day and night. Because his season was so front loaded, he was able to hold on at the end. He worked the points system perfectly. Remember 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Matt Kenseth? He won one race but by being consistent, he won the title. This year’s new point system has increased the number of points scorers and increased the percentage value of a win relative to second place. In other words, the new points system would make it easier for Jenson to win the title this year than last. The good news is that both the 2009 and 2010 points systems would have made last season more of a contest than Bernie’s medal system. Why is that man still in charge of the sport?
- 25 Points
- 18 Points
- 15 Points
- 12 Points
- 10 Points
- 8 Points
- 6 Points
- 4 Points
- 2 Points
- 1 Point
Refuelling
For the first time since 1993, no in-race refuelling will be permitted. I believe that the letter of the rule reads something to the effect that refuelling will only be permitted in the pit garages at a rate of 0.8 L/second and not permitted during the race session. Therefore, teams will have to start the race with enough fuel to complete the full race difference. As a result, this year’s cars are between 10 and 20 cm longer to accommodate the larger fuel tank required to hold all that fuel. Teams will still be making pit stops as the rule requiring both compounds of tires be used during the race is still in place. Keeping with pit stops, the wheel covers that teams have been using for the last couple of years will be banned because of their tendency to fly off the wheel and become projectile-like.
Qualifying
In order to accommodate the originally expected 26 cars at every race, 8 cars will be eliminated in Q1 with 8 more dropped after Q2. Regardless of the number of cars that are at each race, the eliminations will be done evenly at the end of Q1 and Q2 so Q3 features only 10 cars. In a change to Q3, cars will not have to start the race on the fuel in the car when qualifying ends. That means that we’ll have proper low fuel qualifying runs for the pole. However, the top ten starters will have to start the race on the same tires they finished qualifying on as a way to keep some sort of competitive balance between both ends of the grid. Also, the weights of the cars as they will take the grid will no longer be published.
Testing
The in-season testing ban has been extended for another season. There is one small tweak to it, though. A replacement driver that has not raced in F1 in the last two calendar years will be permitted one day of testing at a circuit not on the calendar. Basically, it’s a token familiarization test for drivers that Romain Grosjean or Jaime Alguersuari would have desperately loved to have last year.
KERS
The FIA’s big push to make motorsports more green last year was the use of an electric/hybrid push-to-pass system. That went over so well that most teams gave up on it by the end of the season. That’s why FOTA implemented a self-imposed ban on the system starting this year. The FIA’s official regulations still permit using KERS but it looks like all teams will abide by the gentleman’s agreement. The FIA’s minimum weight increase to accommodate the expected added weight of KERS will still be in the books for this year. The minimum weight for 2010 will increase 15 kg over last year to 620 kg.
2010 Formula One Preview Series
Part 1: Teams
Part 2: New Rules
Part 3: Predictions
The Lowdown 