The 2011 Formula 1 season is coming ever closer as I pen this column, and should be less than two weeks away by the time you read this! Finally, months of inaction will lead us into yet another exciting and fascinating season – hopefully!

This column will talk about the rule changes for the upcoming season. While this topic has been done to death in most mediums, I’ll try and focus on how the changes will affect your experience of the sport – whether on TV or in-stadia.

Overtaking has taken prime importance in Formula 1, as has turning green. If you keep these two points in mind, you’ll know why certain changes have been made for 2011.

Overtaking is so important, in fact, that there’s actually an ‘Overtaking Working Group’ or OWG in Formula 1, which attempts to ‘increase’ overtaking in the sport. I agree that the group, and its very existence, sounds funny, however, their primary objective is to suggest alternate car design ideas to ensure more overtaking on track.

F1 cars are extremely dependent on aerodynamics, and hence the funny bodywork that we often see on the cars. The bodywork streamlines the airflow over the car, but also creates turbulence (or dirty air) behind it. The dirty air is blamed for the lack of overtaking opportunities in Formula 1, as this air destabilizes the car behind.

With this in mind, 2011 brings with it the Adjustable Rear Wing or ARW. The ARW is a simple tool that adjusts the upper flap of the rear wing on the main straight, thereby reducing the drag created by it. The flap straightens itself and gives the driver a few vital kilometers in speed, aiding his overtaking attempt.



The ARW adjusts only a few degrees and is regulated. It needs to be activated by the driver by pressing a switch on his steering wheel, and gets deactivated when the driver either steps onto the brakes, or presses the button again. The concept is innovative, and the implementation on the car is fairly simple.

Now here’s the complex part – the implementation of the ARW on track. The FIA will pre-declare areas on track where the ARW can be used. The ARW will be activated by electronic sensors only when the two cars are separated on track by a second or less.

This is where the ARW gets complex for the fans. While you’re watching a race, I doubt if you’ll ever be able to make out the ARW in action with the naked eye. You think you can capture a rear wing flap move a few degrees when an F1 car is racing along at nearly 300km/h?

The ARW also gets complex for the driver, as there’s now one more button that they he’ll need to deal with on the steering wheel!

Moving on from ARW, we’ll also see the re-introduction of KERS in the sport. KERS or the Kinetic Energy Recovery System was introduced in 2009, and subsequently dropped in 2010. The re-introduction has cost the teams millions of dollars in research and development. But, that apart, KERS is back for two reasons.

Let’s start with the second reason – overtaking! A power boost is much needed in a sport like Formula 1, and that’s what you get with KERS. We saw what Kimi Raikkonen’s KERS Ferrari did to Giancarlo Fisichella’s non-KERS Force India in Belgium in 2009.

The first, and bigger, reason for KERS to comeback is to boost the ‘green image’ of Formula 1. We all know that the sport isn’t the friendliest to the environment, and depends on the burning of fossil fuels for its very existence. However, the FIA, FOM, FOTA, and every other body involved in the sport are desperate to attain a ‘green’ image for F1, and hence the reintroduction of KERS.



The fans love a power boost, and I think KERS is a good step forward – but I was hoping that its implementation would be compulsory, and not optional. Like we did before, we might just see two formulae cars in 2011 – one with KERS, and the other without!

So, here’s a scenario for you to chew on – I’m in a KERS car, on the power boost button, and you’re following me in a non-KERS car, with the ARW button pressed. Who will make the corner first? I hope overtaking doesn’t actually become even more complex with the introduction of these new devices in the sport.

To encourage teams to use KERS in their cars, the minimum weight of the car has gone up by 20kgs – so F1 cars in 2011 will weigh 640kgs.

This means that a KERS and non-KERS car will weigh the same, thereby taking away the weight advantage of a non-KERS car. This change is a learning from 2009, and is much needed.

The other interesting change was lifting the ‘ban’ on team orders. This rule change was complimented with the entry of a rule that doesn’t allow a particular team to bring the sport into ‘disrepute’. While the removal of the ban on team orders is a welcome move, and should help in bidding goodbye to pointless hypocrisy, there is much ambiguity here still. A team can implement team orders in 2011, but have to ensure that they don’t bring the sport into disrepute while doing so. While these steps are in the right direction, the final implementation is what worries me. How would you measure ‘disrepute’?

The other rule changes are minor, and don’t affect on track behavior, but do go a long way in controlling costs in Formula 1.

Gearboxes will now be required to last five Grand Prix – up from 4 last year. F1 teams are getting more efficient, but I think there is room for more efficiency here – so it’s good to know that gearboxes will last longer.

There is also a rule that limits the working hours of team personnel during the GPs. F1 crews are known to work all through the night and day to prepare, repair and tune, racing cars. During a racing weekend, they spend more nights in the pit garages than in their beds. However, starting 2011, even their time will be monitored. A curfew will be imposed starting from midnight to 6am, where no one would be allowed entry to the garages. Each team will, however, be allowed four exceptions throughout the season. How F1 teams and crews cope with this rule will be interesting to watch.

To summarize, the rule changes are interesting, but slightly ambiguous. They could make the sport more entertaining, but also more complex. However, autoX readers needn’t worry – write to me and I shall attempt to simplify the complexities!