Baffled by the massive number of acronyms ?? They are some interesting additions to Formula 1 cars that are competing in the 2011 season. In the past F1 has mostly been a procession from the first lap until the last, with the only changes in position caused by crashes, or really bad pit stops. Unless the leader did something really stupid, or the car broke positions in a race were set by the end of the first couple of laps (or corners at some tracks).
Granted there was the occasional dice between foes, but they were the exception, and not the rule. The F.I.A. and F1 teams tried many different things to improve the spectacle, but they failed. The performance of the car was determined mostly by it's aerodynamics, and later by the computers, that it was almost impossible to pass. You see in order to get close enough to get into the slipstream of the car in front, a driver had to be very close in the corners. This meant driving in the turbulent air behind the car in front, and lose aerodynamic performance. The driver would have to slow down in order to not run off the track. Needless to say, unless his car was much faster (something like 2-3+ seconds per lap), he had no chance of passing the car in front.
Enter K.E.R.S. and D.R.S. These stand for kinetic energy recovery system, and drag reduction system. Basically KERS is an electric doohickey that gets energy from braking, and charges a battery. The driver can then use this energy to give the car an extra boost of power for passing attempts. It is limited to a specific amount per lap, so the driver has to choose when the best time to use it is. DRS is called the drag reduction system, and simply it is a button on the driver's steering wheel that allows the driver to reduce the wing angle on the car. This reduces drag (wind resistance) on a straight-away, allowing for a higher top speed without reducing cornering performance. There is a catch though. In qualifying, it can be used for most of the lap. In the race however, it can only be used on certain straights (determined by the race steward), and for a specific time. The driver also needs to be within 1 second of the car in front. So a driver who is leading cannot use his DRS, only the car behind gets to use it. It is still a work in progress, but in my opinion the FIA is on the right track (pardon the pun) with these two systems.
So far the races I have watched have been quite entertaining. There have been passes for position all up and down the grid. A ban on refuelling, and the new Pirelli tires (2 different compounds a soft which doesn't last all that long, and a harder compound that lasts longer but isn't as fast) there is a new tactical element to the racing that must be taken into account by the teams. They have a limited number of tires for a race weekend, and the teams need to determine whether using the extra tires for a run at pole position is worth having fewer new tires for the race.
I must mention that I used to be quite the F1 nerd, and followed it quite closely. I have to say that I lost interest in F1 mainly due to the dominance of Ferrari (a team I used to adore until Herr Squarehead joined them), and the absolute lack of entertainment. That has changed this year for me. I am finding that it is much more enjoyable to watch the races this year, and it's because of these changes.
