F1: New Regulations for 2011

2011 sees the return of one of the most hated rules of recent years, vying with the ridiculous ban on team orders, invented because people that don't understand the sport complained their betting was being upset if teams "fixed" the finishing order. The rule that has been re-introduced is that each driver must set a qualifying time of within 107% of the pole time.

The rule was abandoned when three-session qualifying turned the second session into the quickest times as fuel loads were adjusted and the top ten cars had to start the race on the fuel loads that they started their final qualifying runs in: that meant that they ran lightest in session two which therefore produced faster times than session one. But, also, cars outside the top ten could set their own starting fuel loads, meaning that slower cars with less fuel might be faster in the initial stages than faster cars with more fuel. So if the fastest qualifying time was not in fact the pole time, the idea of running within 107% of the pole time was out of touch with the reality of absolute speed. Now, with no in-race refuelling, the cars all start with, broadly, the same fuel levels.

What the new rule will mean is that all the back markers, who do not expect to graduate into session two anyway, will run as light as possible during Q1 so as to get their times within the required percentage of the eventual pole time. But their pace in Q1 will be totally unrepresentative of their times in the race. All teams reckon that they will get within 107% of the pole time. Whether the rule makes any sense will be seen by the end of lap 13: if anyone has been lapped, then then their absolute pace in race trim was outside the parameters which, after all, were designed to prevent back markers holding up the front runners.

Last season, no one - including the new teams - cause enough of a problem to justify the re-introduction of this rule. Mobile chicanes are more likely amongst the top six or seven teams - especially if aerodynamics issues mean that overtaking is as difficult as it has been in recent years.

There are two major technical changes: the re-introduction, this time as a mandatory component - of KERS. Teams are angry that this change was announced in the middle of 2010 when many teams had already invested a great deal of time and money into the development of their 2011 cars on the basis of the expected rules. But all teams have got it working, some better than others. McLaren say theirs is fine (they have prior experience) and that their (by their standards) poor showing in qualifying was due to aerodynamics issues which have been resolved and new parts are on the cars which are on their way to Melbourne. The team says that the floor was a big part of the problem. But another problem, apparently unrelated, was in relation to the exhaust system. Both in fact relate to the third big change: the outlawing of the double-diffuser.

Smaller aero changes are being implemented - for example engine cover extensions (sometimes called "shark fins" are subject to strict maximum size restrictions and must be much smaller than in 2010 - this is a consequential ban in relation to the F-Duct technology that teams adopted in 2010. The F-Duct was a driver controlled flap that increased or reduced the airflow over the rear wing so as to alter the downforce to suit different parts of the circuit. Also banned are driver-adjustable front wings. But driver-adjustable rear wings are allowed - but with only two parameters. F1.Com describes this as "on" and "off" but a better description would be "open" and "close" as the approved system varies the space between the main wing and the flap. However, there is an on-off setting which is controlled from the pits - the driver is permitted to use the flap if the team turns it on and notifies him that it is on - but it can be used only if he is within one second of the car in front. It is automatically turned off when he brakes.

Rear wings must be built to a much simplified formula compared to the more-or-less free-within-size-constraints of previous years.

Worries that driver vision was being compromised by the development of ever-taller front chassis and wing components, a new maximum height has been introduced: cars will therefore slope more and front wings and winglets / plates will be smaller than on some previous models.

Although "aero rims" - the discs that some teams put onto the outside of their wheels to improve airflow - were banned after the 2009 season, Ferrari circumvented the ban by designing wheels with similar functionality. The 2011 regulations aim to prevent a repetition.

Car floors must meet stiffness tests to prevent arguments, such as were raised last year, that some teams had built a "flexi-floor" which moved under load and improved airflow under the car, so increasing downforce.

Flying wheels after an accident remain one of the biggest safety concerns: wheel tethers were introduced several years ago but don't seem to work too well. So stronger, stiffer tethers are required for 2011 - and the number increased from two to four.

Aerodynamically styled roll hoops are banned in 2011 on the grounds that, if the car is upside down in gravel, grass or sand, the "blade" could cut into the ground and reduce the headroom that the hoop is designed to ensure.

Sold as a need because no one knows how the new Pirelli tyres will work and therefore only the lucky will get a perfect weight distribution, the FIA says that all cars must distribute weight in the following ratios: 45.5-46.7 percent front, 53.3-54.5 rear. So with no traction control and weight at the back of the car, watch for wiggling rear ends in the wet.

As a result of an agreement between teams, a new position was decided upon during the 2010 season for rear-view mirrors; simply, designers put them where the aero-benefit was best (or least worst) and disregarded whether the driver could actually see anything behind him. The regulations now enforce that as a rule.

But, as always, teams are looking to reduce the impact of rule changes.

Torro Rosso has designed a double-decker floor: this improves airflow under the car and increases downforce. It's not a double diffuser. Honest.

Most teams have come up with a new exhaust arrangement - intended to produce airflow in a specific place. This is what McLaren say they got wrong: Martin Whitmarsh says that their system was too complex and did not deliver the benefits that the data said it should.

Neat that: proof positive that the best place to test a Formula One car is on the track, not on a static testbed, a straight line, a wind tunnel or a computer simulation. None of those had demonstrated the problems which Whitmarsh said were a cause of disappointment. Had they worked, he said, they would have produced a spectacular performance gain. But real world testing has consigned them to the bin - and Whitmarsh says he thinks that will give the McLaren a second a lap in Melbourne compared to the post-test evaluation.