2010 season changes

Though not as dramatic as the rule changes introduced for the 2009 season, the revisions for 2010 could still have a significant impact on the teams’ relative performance…

Refuelling & Narrower front tyres

The biggest change for the 2010 season is the banning of refuelling during races for the first time since 1993. Pit stops will not become a thing of the past, however, as drivers still have to use both dry-weather tyre compounds during a Grand Prix. Of course, those stops will now be much quicker, quite possibly under four seconds.

The change requires cars to possess a much larger fuel tank - up from around 80 litres to something nearer 250 - and has a major effect on race strategy, with drivers having to pay more attention to tyre and brake conservation. To accommodate the bigger tank, the cars are likely to feature wider rear bodywork and a longer wheelbase. As a result, the weight distribution will be quite different to that of a 2009 car.

When slick tyres returned to Formula One racing in 2009, the tyre size remained unchanged. In terms of contact area, this meant that the fronts gained proportionally more grip than the rears. This has been addressed for 2010, with front tyre width reduced from 270mm to 245mm, thus helping to bring back a better grip balance. Also, the ban on refuelling means cars will be around 100kg heavier at the start of a race than in 2009, so Bridgestone will use slightly harder tyre compounds to compensate.

The changes for 2010 are perhaps most striking from overhead. As a result of the ban on refuelling, the fuel tank (4) will be longer and wider. The wheelbase is likely to be about 15 cm longer than in '09 to accommodate this larger tank (6), though teams could opt to move the driver forward slightly (3) or build shorter gearboxes (5) to minimise this increase. At the front, the narrower front tyres (2) will change the handling characteristics and weight distribution of the car, while the driver has control of the front wing flap angle (1) from the cockpit.

Although the refuelling ban for 2010 is a change to the sporting regulations, it has technical implications too. The fuel tank's capacity (2) has almost doubled from around 120 litres to at least 235 litres, while the car's minimum weight has been increased from 605kg to 620kg. To accommodate the larger tank, the car's wheelbase will likely be increased by around 15cm (3). Another 2010 change is that wheels covers (1) have been banned. This is primarily to avoid problems during pit stops which, with no refuelling, will be incredibly fast. It's been estimated that pit stop times will be cut to under four seconds.

From the front, the 2010 cars will look distinctly different to their '09 predecessors due to the narrower front tyres (1) and the wider rear bodywork needed to accommodate the larger fuel tank (2) required following the ban on refuelling. The slimmer front tyres - which address the imbalance of front and rear grip that resulted from the reintroduction of slicks last year - will widen the space between tyre and chassis, thus making this area even more important aerodynamically, so expect to see it featuring some interesting aero components.

Top ten to start on qualifying rubber

Formula One teams have agreed to change the tyre rules for 2010, by making the top ten drivers on the grid start the race on the same tyres they qualified on. With the absence of refuelling, the amendment has been introduced to maintain a strategic element in the sport. It has been proposed by F1's Sporting Working Group (SWG) in order to improve the show. The idea is that team's will have to decide between running a soft tyre compound, which should give a better lap time in qualifying but will wear out quickly during the race, or a hard compound, which will give a slower time over one-lap but should last longer. The addition of a heavy fuel load at the start of the race will mean that driver's who choose the softer, better qualifying tyre will have to be very careful in the early stages.

Less tyres available

Teams will also be restricted to using just 11 sets of tyres per car over the course of a grand prix weekend, rather than 14 under the 2009 rules. To ensure drivers still head out on track during Friday practice, they will have to hand back one set of tyres after the first Friday session and two after the second.

New points system

In place of the previous structure, which saw the top eight drivers scoring 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively, from 2010 the top ten finishers in a Grand Prix score points. The change has been introduced as a result of the expanded grid of 13 teams and in order to encourage drivers to push for a win. The new point system will be :

1^st : 25 points
2^nd : 18 points
3^rd : 15 points
4^th : 12 points
5^th : 10 points
6^th : 8 points
7^th : 6 points
8^th : 4 points
9^th : 2 points
10^th : 1 point

Weight

The minimum weight of the car has been raised from 605kg to 620kg. The initial thinking behind this was to offset the disadvantage faced by taller, heavier drivers in KERS-equipped cars (the additional weight of the KERS system meant they were left with less flexibility in terms of weight distribution than their lighter rivals). By mutual agreement, however, teams are now not expected to run KERS in 2010.

No wheel fairings

Teams are no longer allowed to use the wheel rim covers that became so commonplace in 2009. Their removal means one less thing to go wrong when pit crews are trying to change of set of tyres in less than four seconds, and could also aid overtaking by making the airflow immediately behind cars less turbulent.

Track the cars

Last year, race stewards were criticised for making poor decisions regarding on-track actions by drivers. To help them, the FIA has told the teams that each car must be fitted with an ultra-sensitive GPS system that will be able to accurately track the cars' position to within one metre.

The data will be sent to the race director and will be used by the stewards to judge rule breaking. The technology is likely to be used in examining such infractions as cutting chicanes, ignoring flags, illegal overtaking, impeding rivals and touching pit-exit white lines.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that the total cost of the new technology is €750,000 (over US$1 million). Each of the 13 Formula One teams have received a bill of almost €60,000 (US$83,000) to pay for the FIA's technology improvements for the coming season.

More teams

Thirteen teams - 26 cars - will feature on the grid in 2010. This means a slight alteration to the knockout qualifying session, which will now see eight drivers (as opposed to five) eliminated in Q1 and Q2, leaving ten to fight it out for pole in Q3. The ban on refuelling means that cars will qualify on low fuel in all three phases of the session.

Testing

If a team declares that one of their current race drivers is to be substituted by a driver who has not participated in an F1 race in the two previous calendar years, one day of track testing will now be permitted, on an approved circuit not being used for a Grand Prix in the current season. This is to avoid scenarios such as that seen in 2009 when Jaime Alguersuari made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso having only previously driven an F1 car in straight-line testing.

In another minor change, teams will be allowed six rather than eight days of straight-line aero testing per season. They will also have the option of substituting any of these days for four hours of wind tunnel testing with a full-scale (rather than the normal 60 percent-scale) model.

source : formula1.com