Brzi i hrabri: Ovogodišnji favoriti Luis Hamilton i Maks Ferštapen Quick and brave: This year’s favourites Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen
Velika smena: Čejs Keri umesto Bernija Eklstona Major change: Chase Carey instead of Bernie Ecclestone
themselves, which contradicts the idea and vision of F1. With the intention of attracting a larg- er audience, Carey and his team intend to do everything possible to make the races themselves much more interesting, while many analysts believe that they could be- gin to look like some of the American com- petitions, such as NASCAR or Kart. This, however, would not be to the liking of Eu- rope’s hardcore fans of Formula One, giv- en that they are technologically disadvan- taged sports that are exploited greatly in commercial terms. In America there is no engine development and no investment, with only driver duels and the battle on the track being important, while millions of dollars are poured into F1 and the com- petition on the circuits is actually between factories, teams and manufacturers. This brings together the best engineers and scientists, and that which is developed for F1 vehicles ends up on offer for commer- cial car sales a few years later. Teams and their best experts have actually had the opportunity for development, innovation and technological progress. It seems that the new team at the head of F1 intends to bring a halt to this process. However, despite these negative aspects, some innovations will be intro- duced this year that will make the cars faster than ever before, which will cer- tainly make those who like to see a real battle on the track happy. This will prob- ably also satisfy Fernando Alonso, who once said that F1 has become so bor- ing that the audience should be paid to watch the races. Formula One has become quiet, slow and safe, which is why the new leader-
ship has resolved to apply radical chang- es. The new vehicles will be made wider, with much greater aerodynamic forces, which will enable an increase and expan- sion of almost all significant aerodynamic elements. The mechanical grip force will also be higher than in the 2016 season, thanks to much wider tyres. Experts pre- dict that F1 cars will be three to five sec- onds faster per lap on average in 2017 and in terms of speed will equal and possibly overtake the cars used in 2004, which had much more powerful V10 engines and achieved record speeds. Front tyres will be six centimetres wider and rear ones eight. Clearly showing how much Formu- la One races have slowed down in recent years is the fact that the track record at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit is held by the legendary Michael Schumacher, who was almost five seconds faster in 2005 than the fastest lap recorded on this cir- cuit last year. In the upcoming season drivers will have five kilos more fuel at their dispos- al, meaning they will receive 105 kilo- grams per race, while the entire car will be around 25 kilograms heavier, precise- ly due to technical changes. There are in- dications that the so-called wet start will also be a standing start, as opposed to the previous practice of races in the wet having a rolling start behind a safety car. Such safer starts destroyed the favourite part for viewers in bad weather conditions – the start of the race and the battle for position at the first corner. Drivers agree without exception that handling such a car, which has more thrust, will be challenging and will re- quire a certain adjustment in driving
| 39
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator