2010 F1 New Regulations

1) F1 engine is about to roar again within 8 days starting in Bahrain.

2) Most of the F1 teams has concluded their testing in Barcelona, Spain recently. There were 4 teams expected have the upper hand, namely Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes GP and Red Bull Renault.

3) It is difficults to say who's better than the other, but it was expected those mentioned teams after judging their testing time recently. It is believed, Sauber F1 Team and Williams F1 Team could provide a surprise package and could be one of contender for this season.

4) Nevertheless, the real indication of every teams pace will be known after season opening race in Bahrain on 14th March 2010.

5) Bear in mind, there will be new regulations introduced by FIA as follows:

Refuelling Ban

i. For the first time since 1993, every cars must start will full tank of fuel to last the entire race. Consequently, fuel tank have to increased in size from around 80liters to 250liters which contributed to a longer wheelbase.

ii. The minimum weight of cars has been raised from 605kg to 620kg, starting weights of cars will no longer be published.

Points Scoring

The new system adopts 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 format.

KERS

All teams have agreed not to used Kinetic Recovery System (KERS) for this season.

Testing Ban

i. In-season testing remains banned but new regulations allow teams to test replacement driver if he has not taken part in a grand prix in 2 previous calender years.

ii. 1 day of track testing will be allowed at the circuit not used by F1 and between the start of the week preceding the 2nd event and the last event of the championship.

Teams and Races

i. The grid has been expanded from 10 teams of 20 cars to 13 teams of 26 cars. There are 4 new teams were given the slots namely Virgin Racing, Lotus F1 Team, Campos Meta and US F1.

ii. The championship has been expanded from 17 to 19 races with the additional of South Korea and the return of Canada.

Qualifying

i. The slowest of eight cars will be eliminated after the 1st qualifying session and further 8 after the 2nd session.

ii. All cars will qualify on low fuel.

Stewards

The experienced former F1 drivers will form part of the stewards panel, with 4 stewards sitting at each race instead of previous 3.