Green Light for the Brand New Formula 1 Season

March 23rd, 2017

Image of Nico Rosberg in 2016 by Morio (Own work) CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Formula 1 racing begins again this weekend in Melbourne, Australia, the first of 20 races. 20 drivers from 10 construction teams will compete for the title, which was sensationally won last year by Nico Rosberg in a tense final race in Abu Dhabi, beating three time former champion, Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg then stunned everyone by quitting F1 just five days later, saying he wanted to go out on top, having achieved his goal.

The sport is always evolving, but this year significant changes to the cars and rules have been introduced, which promise to shake things up. This comes as F1 has new owners, American company Liberty Media, who also replaced Bernie Ecclestone, the dominant chief executive who ruled the sport for 40 years. Here are just some of the changes to look out for.

Wider car, wider tires

Tires will be visibly wider on the cars this year, 25% wider in fact. This is to increase the downforce on the car, giving a much better grip meaning cars can take corners faster. Indeed they will be much faster in general, as much as five seconds per lap. The main part of the car will increase 20 cm, to two meters wide, again to increase the downforce of the car. What effect will this have? We will have to wait and see, but as cars will definitely go significantly faster we should expect to see lap time records smashed at each Grand Prix. Secondly, the cars are going to be more challenging to drive, which most drivers relish.

Image by ph-stop, cropped/retouched by Morio (originally posted to Flickr as Lap 1, Turn 2) (CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Overtaking

What is not widely expected to be improved though, is the ability to overtake. This has been a criticism for many years now. Aerodynamic features on the car to increase downforce create disturbed air behind the car, pushing cars who are following back, making passing difficult. The new rules don’t seem to address this and many worry it will make it even harder now.

Wet weather starts

A new rule change means that if the weather conditions at the start of a race necessitate the safety car being present, then once the conditions improve, the safety car will exit and a restart from a standing start at the grid will take place. This will make sure every race gets the exciting grid start.

Who is going to win?

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) are the early favourites for the title this year, with their respective teams also favourites for the Constructors Championship title, but the rule changes could shake things up and cause upsets.

Find details of how to watch the Melbourne Grand Prix and the Formula 1 Season where you are here, and here is the race calendar for 2017.