Sam Michael looks ahead to 2009

With several teams having tested cars running under the 2009 regulations, including slick tyres and with 2009 aero configurations, it is now time to look ahead to 2009.

With the help of Williams' Technical Director Sam Michael we will look at what the regulation changes for 2009 involve and how the Williams Team will approach their development for 2009.

All Formula One teams are having to manage the process as to what level they continue the development of their 2008 cars while at the same time looking ahead to 2009.

Sam Michael outlines what the 2009 regulation changes involve:

"The 2009 Technical Regulations are significantly different to those of 2008. Firstly there is a big change in the bodywork so the cars will physically look very different. The major bodywork changes are :

- No more flipups, chimneys, winglets or louvres on top of the sidepod.
- Significantly smaller barge boards in front of the sidepod.
- Heavily revised diffuser dimensions.
- Narrower rear wing.
- Wider front wing, and with the centre (500mm wide) section being FIA homologated and standard profile.
- Electronic, driver adjustable front wing angle to allow aero balance to be changed while following other cars - to aid overtaking.

There are also other changes such as :
- Slick tyres. Same outer dimensions as current tyres, but with grooves filled in.
- No tyre blankets allowed.
- KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems).

The changes affecting tyres need to be considered on the test track, and then that information used to drive mechanical design changes such as suspension geometry and wheelbase. The KERS is a project in it's own right and there is a lot of work to do on it before it's ready for racing!"

Sam Michael also discussed what the Williams approach to 2009 will be.

Michael said: "Like most other F1 teams, we are balancing between how much resource we put into developing our current car against how much we spend on 2009. Normally, any development that you do towards the end of one season can in some way be carried to the following season.

However, as the rules are so different, none of the aero development will carry over. The new regulations have a target of improving overtaking through less dependency on aerodynamics. That doesn't mean aero development will become any less important for the teams in their development programs, in fact the opposite.

We have started work on 2009, but it is at a very early stage, and in fact some of the details of the regulations are still being finalised by the TWG (Technical Working Group). There are certainly some big losses, and that was the intention of the rule change, so every team's target will be to recover as much as possible.

We do have mechanical and aerodynamic upgrades for FW30 planned during this season. Due to the increased workload on 2009, they cannot be to the same level as previous years."

What has the recent testing told us about the 2009 regulation changes and its impact on the performance of the cars. It is felt that the aerodynamic changes will see downforce levels are down by 40 to 50 percent. Combining the banning of tyre warmers with the reduction in downforce is likely to make driving difficult on the slick tyres until they come up to the right temperature.

But it is also felt that with the aerodynamic changes there will be more potential for overtaking as cars will be able to run closer together without losing aerodynamic load. Combine this with the improved grip provided by slick tyres and the racing can only get better.

There has been a level of criticism of the rule change ending the use of tyre
warmers. Even AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg has an opinion.

In an interview with autosport.com Nico said: "You can't run tyres like this next year. That's my opinion, definitely not. It's ridiculous. Running out of the pits it's
ridiculous. It's not racing, it's survival. It's just survival out there, and that's
ridiculous, it's not racing. They have to do something on the tyres to improve that. It's not the way it should be. You can have cold tyres, but not like that."

For those of you who are not sure what Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) are, and according to the FIA, it is 'a system that is designed to recover kinetic energy from the car during braking, store that energy and make it available to propel the car'.

In regard to the use of a Kinetic Energy Recovery System the main factor that has to be considered is that the maximum power, in or out, of any KERS must not exceed 60kW, 80 bhp. Energy released from the KERS may not exceed 400kJ in any one lap.

These power restrictions will most likely see drivers, at best, make only one overtaking attempt per lap. This use of the extra energy will be used at the most  obvious place so that those trying to overtake and those being overtaken will have the same relative advantage. It seems like a large amount of effort on the part of the teams for little real gain.

Teams like Williams are faced with a relatively short period before the start of the 2009 season so the pace of development will have to increase to the possible detriment of the development of the 2008 cars. As Sam Michael said "Due to the increased workload on 2009, they cannot be to the same level as previous years."

But at least the team still has several upgrades planned during the 2008 season so hopefully the chances of some good performances from the team in the rest of the 2008 season are still a distinct possibility.