Four races into the 2009 season and car developments are coming thick and fast, the grid is covered by less than two seconds, closer than it has ever been, and now even the small teams have there chance of a day of glory.
Why is this and will the ultra competitive season continue?
Making a few quick assumptions; the cars are doing more or less the same lap times as they were in 2008 so from that we can assume that the increase in tyre grip of the slicks - which have around 20% more tread area by just filling in the groves – is equal to the overall loss of downforce, again of about 20%.
But more importantly, the tyre grip is there for everyone, not just for the big budget teams with their big budget developments. This grip from the tyres is not affected by turbulence when following another car and this is really the component that is making this year’s racing better than for many years.
Bridgestone have said that because of a front-to-rear tyre size relationship problem, they are going to make a smaller front tyre for 2010. This will reduce front tyre grip and achieve a better front-to-rear mechanical tyre balance, but this will also increase the potential aerodynamic contribution, as more air can come through between the front wheels, allowing the car to produce more downforce.
Surely taking this all into account they would be better making a wider rear tyre. If it was 50mm wider on the inboard side it would increase the rear tyre contact patch area by about 12%, again sorting out the basic front-to-rear mechanical tyre balance. It would also increase the overall drag of the car, reducing top speed and reducing the overall downforce because of this extra blockage.
This together with a slight change in technical regulations to reduce overall downforce would once again improve the racing, because the tyres would become a higher percentage of the grip level and aerodynamics, and the trillion dollar budgets required to go with it would be less important.
Might I suggest that the regulation change might just be interpreting the diffuser regulations as it was intended for 2009 (i.e. no holes or double deck diffusers), so in reality, no real change required.
The other thing I would do is bin the KERS as this just adds confusion for everyone including the teams. And as Flavio Briatore said, it is the greatest money-sucking device ever invented.
If these things were to happen then we could then all look forward to even better and closer racing in 2010.