New Changes In Formula One to Encourage Overtaking in 2011
The changes in Formula 1 continue, and now in an attempt to make overtaking much more easier next season, adjustable rear wings are being introduced.
Drivers while trying to overtake on a straight will have the option of altering their wings, which will instantly help in increasing the speed, hence making it far easier to pass another car. F1's legislative body approved the changes in a meeting of the FIA World Council that took place on Wednesday.
Other big decisions taken at the meeting were, the infamous the F-duct aerodynamic system was banned and the safety car rule was revisited, while Pirelli was made F1's official tyre supplier from 2011.
The change in the safety car rule was in direct reaction to the controversy that happened at this year's Monaco Grand Prix, when Michael Schumacher (Mercedes driver) was handed down a 25-second penalty when he overtook Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.
The council agreed that the rules were not clear, there was an argument by Mercedes and some other teams, that overtaking was allowed once the safety car had made its way in the pit lane in the last lap. Formula One's governing the FIA, decided to clarify rule.
Now the rule is very clear, there will be no overtaking allowed, once the safety car pulls in at the end of the last lap. The FIA World Council in an official statement said that, no car should be allowed to overtake till it has crossed the first safety car line for the first time, while the safety car is making its way to the pits.
However, if the safety car is still on the track when the final lap begins, or in middle of the last lap, the safety car will enter pit lane at the end of the final lap. In addition, the cars will finish the race as they are without overtaking.
Talking about the aspect of improving overtaking in 2011, "driver-adjustable bodywork” was announced by the World Council. However the statement did not clarify which part of the car it would be, but a senior FIA official said that the top flap of the rear wing is what will be adjustable.
Earlier Paddy Lowe (McLaren engineering director) had confirmed that the team’s organization ‘Fota’ had put this proposal to FIA. Lowe added that the car looking to overtake can get an instant increase in speed up to 15km/h (about 9.3mph) by using the device, while the interesting part is that the driver in front will not be allowed to deploy the device to defend his position.
Drivers will be able to use the flaps in qualifying however they want, what they are trying to do is to make sure that the flap has very low drag, so in qualifying it will allow drivers to get a better lap time by using it wherever they want. But that is not where the regulations end, on race day the drivers will not be able to use the flaps in the first 2 laps, but after the first 2 laps as soon as a driver is within a second of the car in front he will be able to deploy the flaps.
The F-duct which was pioneered by McLaren in 2010 has a similar effect; the F-duct stalls, the rear wing and changes the airflow over it. Its ability to produce down force is reduced but as of now, F-duct has been banned.
Now it remains to be seen if these big changes actually make the sport more exciting. Formula one has long been the most expensive sport in the world, certainly not the most exciting. It is more about strategy and game plan, rather than head to head battles between cars. Overtaking is what people want to see when they come to watch a race. Overtaking does take place in F1, but not on such regular basis as one would like to see. The new changes although sound a bit too complicated for now, may be beneficial to the sport in the long run.
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