| The last fifteen years or so has seen Formula | | | | weekend of March with the traditional Australian |
| One evolve into a sport where realistically only | | | | Grand Prix. This means teams are starting to |
| two or three teams had a chance to win each | | | | show their true colors now in testing in Spain, |
| race unless it rained. The 2009 pre-season testing | | | | which is more meaningful than usually given the |
| is providing a fairly credible belief that this has | | | | fact all ten teams are on the same track and |
| changed. | | | | running at the same time. |
| Formula One rarely makes significant changes. | | | | So, what are we seeing? Different teams pop up |
| Minor tweaks occur all the time, but that is about | | | | to the top of the times on different days. Overall, |
| it. Faced with the "Great Recession", even the | | | | McLaren looks like it is having some problems and |
| teams and power brokers in F1 have had to | | | | has admitted as much. Shockingly, Toyota actually |
| reconsider the championship. In a cost cutting | | | | looks like it might have moved up in the field. |
| move, they've slashed the cost involved in going | | | | Renault, Ferrari and BMW look very competitive |
| racing in a number of ways in an effort to keep | | | | as one would expect. All this being said, there is |
| manufacturers and privateer companies racing. | | | | something much more revealing about the times |
| This cost cutting seems to have seriously | | | | being put up. Day after day, the top 10 in the |
| narrowed the gap between the haves and have | | | | testing reveals that all the teams are extremely |
| nots in the field. | | | | close with times often being under 1 second of |
| The new regulations in Formula One are unique in | | | | difference between first and 10th place. This is a |
| a number of ways. One is that they eliminate | | | | good sign and could point to a return to the days |
| development in certain areas of the car. Much of | | | | when pole position was a bit less important. |
| this is focused on the aerodynamics that can be | | | | Basing season predictions on preseason testing is, |
| used. If you look at a 2008 car, it has all manner | | | | of course, a fool's errand. For all we know, |
| of tiny wings and angles designed to provide just | | | | Toyota could be running laps with only a bit of |
| a bit more down force and they worked. Of | | | | fuel while McLaren hasn't used top gear yet! Still, |
| course, it costs $100 million or so to get that | | | | one can usually get a general idea of who is going |
| extra three tenths of a second of speed! With | | | | to be competitive and who is not. For 2009, it |
| the new rules eliminating that development, we | | | | looks like there will be more teams than just |
| are expecting to see a 2009 season where | | | | McLaren and Ferrari challenging for wins and that |
| someone besides Ferrari and McLaren duke it out. | | | | is a very good development indeed. |
| The Formula One season starts on the last | | | | |