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Regulations of formula 1 2001 in comparisiopn to 2000

Formula 1 never stands still. It is, after all, supposed to be the world's most technically advanced racing category. However, the technical regulations have to change from time to time as teams discover technical developments that make the cars faster than before, and thus make them faster than is deemed safe for the circuits on which the Grands Prix are held.
Sometimes, though, the regulations are changed not for this express reason, but with the intentions of making the racing more exciting. This is what is happening for the 2001 World Championship. Former McLaren and Ferrari design chief, John Barnard, was asked earlier this year by the sport's governing body, the FIA, to devise regulations that would cut downforce by 50% and thus reduce the dependency on aerodynamic grip.

The thinking behind this is that it will allow cars to run closer together during the race, and thus be able to get into a position to overtake more easily than they have in the recent past. So, at a stroke, the changes would not only cut lap times but, more importantly, make the racing more exciting by making overtaking easier to do. Barnard duly fashioned the changes, including making alterations that he reckoned would increase tyre grip by 10% to counter some of the lost downforce. The changes are as follows:

Firstly, each car's front wing has been raised by 5cm above the car's reference plane in order to reduce its sensitivity to changes in ride height. At the opposite end of the car, the rear wing is now limited to four elements, with three at the top and one at the bottom, again reducing its aerodynamic efficiency. A key to the wind-cheating characteristics of contemporary Grand Prix cars has been the diffuser (the bodywork found at the rear of the underside of a car that is shaped to control the airflow in the most efficient way). Chop the diffuser and you compromise its downforce. With this being the FIA's aim, next year's diffusers have been abbreviated to end ahead of the front line of the rear wheels, with the intention of reducing the turbulence in the air behind a car's rear wing, thus making it easier for a following driver to get in close in preparation for an overtaking manoeuvre.

In 2001, only the plank and the rear wing will extend beyond this, with the plank extending to the centre line of the rear wheels. The plank itself is being boosted in width from 30cm to 45cm. In addition to the changes to the chassis, the tyres have come in for attention, with an extra groove being added to the tyres. Obviously, this will reduce their grip, when the FIA is trying to make them grip 10% more than before, but the balance is affected in the favour of extra grip by rear tyres being made wider. On the one hand, this provides extra grip, but on the other they offer extra drag, emphasising how everything in Formula1 is a balance.

Having taken so much away from the aerodynamic make-up of the cars, the FIA is giving something back in allowing the flat bottoms of the chassis to be replaced with shaped bottoms. Not all changes have been made in the interest of slowing the cars down and improving the chance of overtaking, as the cars' sidepods are to be extended forward to the front of cockpit opening in order to improve the safety of the driver in case of a lateral impact. Despite the width of car being increased from 180cm to 200cm, to make it less aerodynamically efficient, the 2001 cockpit will be only 1cm wider, accommodating an extra 5mm of foam padding on either side.

However, driver protection has not been left at just increasing the length of the sidepods, as each car will carry superior roll-over protection. Not all the teams are happy with all of the proposals, but even before their cars have hit the tracks for testing, it is thought that their designers have worked their magic to such an extent that tyre grip will double, cancelling out the loss of downforce.

McLaren's trend-setting design chief, Adrian Newey, is not so sure that the changes will achieve their aim, saying that it is not so much the cars' aerodynamic package that is to blame for the current lack of overtaking. Instead, he reckons that it's more to do with the format of the circuits used. For all the aerodynamic changes listed, perhaps the change for 2001 that will be remembered in years to come is the decision to permit cars to run with traction control again.

Made this November by the Technical Working Group, this decision is awaiting ratification by the FIA early next year. Should the agreement be rubber stamped, there's a likelihood that it will affect the relative performance of the teams, especially as FIA president Max Mosley has said that he is convinced that some had been circumventing the rule banning this driving aid that was implemented at the end of 1993.

Indeed, it was the difficulty in policing whether teams were using traction control or not that forced the teams to propose the change. Traction control allows drivers to floor the throttle as they round the apex of a corner, leaving the engine management to control the amount of power to the rear wheels according to the amount of grip available. Thus if the track surface is slippery, power delivery will be cut back, avoiding the wheelspin and a lack of traction that results from an excess of power over grip. Thus traction control removes the finer skills of throttle control, leaving the driver to choose only on which line to take the corner. However, don't expect this to put the teams on a level playing field, as history shows that the richest teams always benefit from rule changes as they can afford to work their way towards the best solution.