When the floods arrived Noah lined the animals up two by two and it wasn’t much different in China.
When Grand Prix time came around the heavens opened, after an exciting and eventful two hours of racing, the finish order was two by two; the Red Bulls, the Brawns and the McLarens. The question is: what has brought this change in the competitiveness of the teams?
A regulation change will always re-set the clock and knock the momentum out of any development plan that the big teams have in place. Everyone starts with a clean sheet of paper and if you get the concept right you are up and running.
It takes a bit of time to know where you are but with three races of the 2009 championship now under our belt, a distinct pattern is developing and for some teams they probably wish it wasn’t. I suppose Australia was a bit of a shock for last year’s front running teams, Ferrari, McLaren and BMW. And they probably hoped it was just a bit of a nightmare, they would wake up in Malaysia and all would be back to norm. Not so, and China confirmed their worst suspicions - they are in the c**p with a lot of work to do.
A new dawn has approached and Red Bull, Brawn, Williams and Toyota are giving everyone else a spanking, though Williams and Toyota have not really got the consistency yet. Of the two leading teams, Red Bull are showing that there are many other things that make a car competitive - it is not all about diffusers. They are also in the enviable position that their diffuser development will move them forward from an already very competitive position, as opposed to Ferrari, McLaren and BMW, who will have to use their development expertise just to stand still as everyone else around them will be doing the same thing.
For the seven teams that missed the boat with regard to the double deck diffuser only Renault and McLaren have reacted so far with modifications to their cars in China, but for all it will be a very expensive season and I am sure no team put this sort of extra spend into their budget.
The new diffuser and required ancillaries are a mere drop in the ocean beside what will be required if a new gearbox casing, including some internals and new rear suspension, is necessary. If so, there won’t be much change out of a cool €15 million and with Red Bull being right at the sharp end without it, Brawn, Williams and Toyota won’t be able to stand back and snigger, they will also have to find another piggy bank to snap the head off.
The thing that confuses me most is that the FIA keep on about reducing the massive budgets it takes to compete in F1 yet they had the perfect opportunity in their hands to say 'yes, the regulations need a little clarification, double decker diffusers are OK up to and including China but after that no.'
Remember the Brabham fan car back in the 70s? One race, one win and the car was binned. I suppose that was when people could make decisions which were the best for the sport as opposed to their own individual egos.