23/08/2011
NEWS STORY
Mat Coch writes:
New rules set to be introduced in 2014 further restrict the already limited avenues in which teams can develop, however rather than moving the sport closer to a 'spec' championship Michael suggests the changes make sense as the Formula One tries to align itself more closely with the automotive industry.
"There's a lot of fixed dimensions in the new engine rules, like crank centre guide lines," Michael explains. "The crank centreline height of a Formula One engine is completely irrelevant to anything in the world, but if you don't fix that crank centreline height what guys will do is try different centreline heights to work out what they can get away with, because it's lap time."
Regulation changes are also set to introduce a limit on the centre of gravity for an engine in an attempt to prevent manufacturers using exotic materials, in turn reducing costs and increasing reliability. With a revised KERS system generating ten times the power of the 2011 unit minimum weight will also increase.
"It's a smaller engine because it's a V6 but it's still a turbo charger and there are parts of the exhaust system included in that weight now. The current engine mass has a lot of things stripped off it to make that mass," explained the Australian. "Some manufacturers were pushing for a heavier weight than what's been agreed. The problem with having low weight limits in Formula One is it significantly drives up cost.
"I don't think that type of spending war really helps Formula One transmit things to other industries," he continued. "It drives things like different configurations. Someone might try a matrix of different engine configurations, for example, to work out which one potentially gives one horsepower more than the other. So the end effect on horse power is tiny but if you don't do it, it'll become a differentiator."
The power available to drivers through KERS is also set to be increased, allowing them to access stored energy for as much as 33 seconds per lap as opposed to the 6.6 seconds currently available. Changes to the way in which that energy is harvested have also been made, allowing drivers to only save half of what they could potentially use over a single lap.
"The idea of it - to have two megajoules harvestable, four megajoules deployable - is to add some strategic or gaming theory to the device," says Michael. "That will definitely have an effect because now we use KERS for 6.6seconds per lap, it's going to turn in to 33 seconds. The difference between having it on a lap and not having it will be pretty fundamental. So you will have a faster car coming up behind a slow car, save his KERS and then maybe expend it, just use it to go past. That'll be a pretty important thing on strategy."
For all the changes and increased level of restrictions imposed on teams, Michael remains in favour of limiting developments in areas that don't add to the 'show'. "I think rules are there for things that are uninteresting, dimensions and avenues to explore," he says.