The dawn of a new era: 2014's rule changes and the Jerez test

Source: motorsport.com

Following a series of desperately uncompetitive seasons, it is apparent that Formula 1 is stuck in the middle of a very deep rut. Since the last round of significant regulation changes back in 2009 the sport has witnessed the remarkable ascendancy of Red Bull, who have managed to win eight of the last ten championship titles. In theory, it sounds great – who wouldn’t want to watch the plucky underdogs take on the mighty names of Ferrari and McLaren and give them a bloody nose? Indeed it was great – for about two seasons. Unfortunately for the fans, Red Bull managed to build on the fantastic form they found in 2009 and use it to maintain a form of dominance that has made results in recent years all-too-familiar. This element of incessant predictability has resonated strongly with the sport’s global audience, which has gradually decreased in number since the 2010 season; 2013 alone saw viewing figures drop by a staggering 50 million, which is almost a 10% decline on those from 2011.

As a result of this, many see 2014’s dramatic regulation changes as an opportunity to spice things up a bit and resurrect the excitement of years gone by. Undoubtedly the area that has been most affected going into the new era are the engines, which have been given a drastic overhaul as the sport carries on its relentless pursuit to embrace environmentally-friendly technology. As a result of the sport’s eco-centric goals, the engines have become somewhat less ‘meaty’: the unit itself is a 1.6 litre V6 turbo, which is limited to 15,000 RPM and produces a measly 600bhp. In light of the outgoing V8 monsters these changes are not exactly welcome, and one might be forgiven for thinking that Formula 1 cars are beginning to resemble glorified GP2 cars. However, these engines do have several feathers in their caps, including the addition of the so-called ‘Energy Recovery System’ or ERS, which combines the familiar KERS system with an additional electric motor which is attached to the turbo. Along with the energy gathered by KERS, ERS benefits from the additional motor’s ability to convert thermal energy produced by the turbo into electric energy. This energy is harnessed by batteries and can be deployed by the engine management computer to produce an extra 160bhp for 33 seconds per lap, which is a dramatic increase over the KERS system used in previous years.

The most noticeable changes are those concerning the chassis, which have resulted in fairly odd looking cars across the board. The area of highest contention is undoubtedly the nose, which has been lowered significantly in an attempt to reduce the chance of a car being launched into the air in the event of it hitting the rear wheels of the one in front. Coupled with a complicated set of dimensional requirements and the teams’ desires to maximise airflow under the chassis, this has meant that several of this year’s challengers feature pretty unorthodox designs, some of which resemble anything from anteaters to vacuum cleaners. There are a number of other changes to the chassis as well, including a narrower front wing and the removal of the lower beam rear wing. Both of these changes mean that the airflow around and over the car is significantly less fluid than in the last few seasons, which means that overall downforce will be reduced. The exhaust system has had a bit of a makeover as well, with the dual-pipe layout being succeeded by a single, central one which sits directly above the gearbox. The effect of this has been to eliminate the so-called ‘exhaust-blown floors’, which used exhaust gases in order to boost downforce to great effect.

Taken as a whole, these changes are certain to offer one thing: unpredictability. Not only will the cars be very difficult to drive thanks to the unsavoury combination of increased torque and reduced downforce, but also hideously unreliable; indeed, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner suspected that failure rates could reach as high as 50% of the entire grid in the early stages of the season. If you are the sort of fan who misses the exciting spectacle provided by the notoriously uncontrollable cars of the ‘80s, this news will be of some comfort; there is no doubt that Formula 1 cars of recent years have been rather conservative in their design, so the reintroduction of turbocharged engines and limited downforce will hopefully revive some of the excitement of an era where the emphasis was on the skill of the driver and poor reliability meant that everything was to play for.

Source: motorsport.com

If the first pre-season test at Jerez is anything to go by, it looks like these hopes may be justified. When the cars were actually running, you could see them consistently power-sliding out of corners, scrabbling for virtually non-existent grip at every turn. The drivers were incessantly complaining about how they were much harder to drive than their 2013 forerunners, but I see this as a positive – an opportunity to sort the men from the boys come race day in Melbourne. Then there is the reliability: the teams knew that it would be a significant issue at this very early stage of proceedings, but I’m not entirely sure they were expecting just how unreliable the new powertrains would be. The complexity of the new technology means that a number of teams have struggled with a number of issues relating to consistent ERS functionality, and have consequently experienced some desperately limited running. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than at Red Bull, which managed to rack up a grand total of 20 laps over the 4 days of testing when their car wasn’t confined to the garage. One could blame the RB10’s ERS overheating issues on Adrian Newey’s constant drive to package his cars as tightly as possible to ensure the best possible aerodynamics, but these issues have reared their head at a number of other teams, namely Caterham and Toro Rosso. The fundamental problem is with the Renault power unit, whose construction means that ERS issues are effectively inherent in the design and therefore cannot be rectified without some significant changes. Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari on the other hand experienced no such issues, all three teams racking up an extremely healthy number of laps without a single blip; indeed, Nico Rosberg was able to put in a full race distance on the last day and come back to the pits under his own power.

At this moment in time it is difficult to discern who is on top in terms in raw pace, but that seems to be of relatively little concern for most of the paddock; there is no doubt that the usual suspects at the top of the grid have produced quick cars, but it’ll be for nothing if they can’t get them going. With that in mind, it looks like reliability will be one of the most decisive factors in progress of this year’s championship, and will undoubtedly rekindle some of the fire lost in previous years – and about time too.