#3 One diffuser to rule them all...

I delayed this post until the decision by the FIA on the legality of the rear diffusers which some of the teams are running and gaining an advantage with. As expected, the decision went in favour of Brawn, Toyota and Williams with the diffuser getting the all-clear.


Teams I think most likely to make a jump forward with a new diffuser would be the Red Bulls and BMWs. These cars are the next most competitive after the diffuser cars, the Red Bull especially quick. Depending on how long it takes to get the new design on the car, I would expect the front runners to get much closer, perhaps even challenging Brawn GP, who have a clear advantage over the rest of the grid.

The question is will Button wish that the race could have continued to score maximum points as opposed to the half-points which were awarded?

With a new diffuser, Ferrari and McLaren would make a jump forward. Ferrari at the moment require the KERS system to be as competitive as there are. The system itself has been a good initiative to promote the ideal that Formula 1 is at the bleeding edge of technology, but it's questionable how much benefit it gives. There is a weight penalty with the KERS, especially against the taller drivers, and it's not providing the lap time benefit to justify it. KERS does help during the race, a KERS-enabled car can easily pass a non-KERS car, but that advantage is removed when both cars have the energy recovery system. That being said, the racing on show has been exciting, no longer do we see a slow and heavy car building up a queue behind it (well not for very long anyways...)

What I really want to see are two Brits fighting for podiums and wins - my fear was that with the mammoth rise of Hamilton in the last two seasons, Button was being forgotten. This season there's a danger of those roles being reversed, where it would be great to have more than one Brit at the sharp end of the grid. The test is to see how Hamilton copes with a difficult car, I'm suprised at all of the talks already of him leaving the team.



For both Australia and Malaysia, the races have started later in the day in order for the race starts to happen at more Europe-friendly times.
The reason for all this is that the countries that can afford to build and put on F1 races are outside of Europe are mainly Asia and the middle East, but the majority of the audiences are in Europe. The race in Australia started later and visibility was an issue towards the end of the race. Malaysia is renowned for experiencing showers/monsoons late in the afternoon so why the race period was moved into this timeframe is very odd, particularly because the weather habits are well known.

The race itself eventually became a washout, the race eventually red-flagged about half distance. Button drove the Brawn for the first time in the wet and again was perfect in his execution. Glock made the risky gamble to go on Inters and benefited with 2nd place. The Ferraris gambled too early with the full wets and paid the price. Hamilton managed another points finish despite the car being uncompetitive; Kovalainen did not finish again.
The question is will Button wish that the race could have continued to score maximum points as opposed to the half-points which were awarded?