After the 'crisis' summit between F1's teams that took place today, there are some interesting changes in store for 2003. The question everyone should be asking of course is whether they will do any good.
Teams will now have one flying lap to set fastest time on Friday afternoon, the incentive being that the fastest cars on Friday will run last on Saturday, enjoying the benefit of a theoretically 'grippier' track. At face value the proposals seem good; teams will need to race from Friday onwards and if it rains during Saturday, a topsy-turvy grid is almost guaranteed. But is it really what F1 needs?
Dispensing with the wider arguments concerning changes to aero-packages and the like, these temporary measures will still play very much into the hands of the bigger teams, especially Ferrari.
Schumacher, the acknowledged qualifying master, will have little trouble bagging pole simply because he has a disturbing ability to find the 'edge' of the performance envelope faster than anyone else. Rivals like brother Ralf and Jarno Trulli can qualify well but typically must build up to something; the new rules are unlikely to allow this.
Secondly, the qualifying rules mean that the bigger, better funded teams that can test extensively and have wind-tunnels aplenty will roll their cars out on Friday morning closer to the 'ideal' set-up than Minardi for example, who will still only get close sometime late on Sunday afternoon. In this respect the changes will achieve nothing of lasting significance; the fastest teams will still be fastest on Friday and will then still have the best opportunity to run well on Saturday afternoon. Indeed, how many times this season have observers suspected that Ferrari's lacklustre Friday times have only been the result of some serious sand-bagging?
The rest of the changes seem cosmetic. If the FIA seriously believe they can police 'team orders', then they must ban driver aids immediately as it will be a damn sight easier to police that than what goes on inside teams.
Eight points for second place will undoubtedly make it harder to run away with the championship. It could be argued that the points system will favour the consistent, giving other teams a chance but that is ludicrous when we consider the impressive reliability/speed combination of Ferrari this season. More worryingly still, with McLaren and Williams seemingly prepared to push the boundaries of design in order to close the gap next season, the ultra-reliable Ferrari may well still bag the championship in double-quick time if their rivals race into the distance only to break down after thirty laps.
Next season will probably be closer but MOTORSPORTFORUM suspects this will only be because the likes of McLaren and Williams up their game and Ferrari find that their incremental increases in performance are not as large as they were last season. Money, resources, design, testing bans, tyres and the basic format of F1 are still where the real solutions lie. F1 has helped itself, but only for now.
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