The 2008 season is over and Lewis took it literally down to the wire, or should I say down to the last 2 corners from home – never have I shouted at the TV quite so loud!
So will he retain his title next year? I’d like to think he can, but it has to be said that there are a lot of changes being introduced in 2009 which will level out the playing field for a while. The usual teams will no doubt remain at the front of the field but a lot of things are changing on the cars.
Along with changes to bodywork, car weight and tyre size, Kinetic Energy Recovery System, (KERS) will be introduced. This is a regenerative brake device that is designed to recover some of the vehicle’s kinetic energy that is normally lost as heat during braking. The recovered energy can be stored electrically, in a battery or supercapacitor, or mechanically, in a flywheel, for use as a source of additional accelerative power when the driver wants.
The bodywork will look distinctly different as the rear wing has different dimensions, and other appendages such as barge boards, winglets etc will be removed from the cars giving them a very different look.
2008 Williams with 2009 spec rear wing in testing
Another interesting addition is the introduction of “driver adjustable bodywork”. The regulations state, “The angle of incidence of elements in a defined area forward of the front wheels can be varied by up to 6 degrees and adjusted by direct driver input. A maximum of 2 adjustments can be made on any lap.” – sounds great!
Slick tyres will be reintroduced, meaning the back of the horrible grooved tyres that we have had for the last 10 years.
Also today, the FIA announced that engine life would be extended from two to three races as per the press release at http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/wmsc08/Pages/wmsc_051108.aspx.
This release also announces that there will be more transparency on stewards decisions from the start of the season, which should remove the complaints about a number of the key decisions made in 2008.
Roll on Melbourne 2009!
