F1 2009

A new season of F1 is all set to begin. It will be an exciting season if any indication of the last two seasons can be taken into account. Lewis Hamilton won the drivers’ championship from Filepe Massa by a single point in the last race of 2008. It could not get more exciting than this. This year’s F1 season will be very different to the last years as FIA, the governing body have made many changes to the season . Slick tyres will make a comeback after nearly 10 years. There are stringent aerodynamics regulations. The front wing will be lower and wider while the rear wings will be higher and narrower. This will enhance the mechanical grip of the car, A new system known as Kinetic Energy Recovery system (KERS) will be introduced where the energy generated during braking is stored and can be used to give the extra boost and acceleration when needed, though this optional. The pit lane speed limit has been increased from 50 mph to 62 mph. A massive cost cutting has been put to place and the budget of each team may be cut to half the amount they had spent last year. The engine has to last 3 races, the gearbox has to last 4 races. The team will be penalized 5 places if they put a new engine or gearbox before this period. The rule that the pit lane is closed during the safety car period is done away in 2009. There was supposed to be a major change in the Driver Championship allocation wherein the driver who wins the most number of races will be given the title instead of the driver who has the most points like previous years but this rule was taken back after strong opposition from the participating teams.  The 2009 calendar will have 17 races in all. The season will begin with the Australian GP in March and will end with the newly constructed Abu Dhabi GP in November. The French and the Canadian GP have been dropped from this year’s calendar. There will be a night race in Singapore. Ten teams will be taking part this season. Team Honda has been bought by Ross Brawn, the former technical advisor of the Ferrari team and has been renamed as Brawn- Mercedes team. Interestingly a huge controversy is brewing among the F1 teams regarding the use of diffusers on the car. A diffuser is an extension of the floor at the back end of the car, between the rear wheels to gather and organize the high speed air rushing under the car. This reduces drag and increases down force, so the speed and agility of the car is increased. Some teams like Toyota, Williams and Brawn have diffusers which are working better than other teams so their cars are much faster . Teams like Ferrari and Renault have lodged a complaint against this and the hearing is to take place sometimes  soon. Will it again be team Ferrari dominating as we have seen many times before or teams like Mclaren, Toyota, Renault going all out for the championship. This only time will tell but one thing is for sure that there will be no shortage of drama, suspense, thrill and controversies when the season will finally kicks start on the 29^th of March on the famous Melbourne Grand Prix circuit. Get, set, go.