What's New in 2010?

The biggest change that 2010 has thrown at the GP teams is the ban on refueling. This change has huge ripples - What used to be an 80 litre petrol tank will now be a 250 litre tank. This additional weight and size will wreak havoc on brakes and tires - drivers will have to revise their strategies whilst adapting to a newly designed car all while careening through bends at tremendous speeds. The upside for audiences is that pit stops will be reduced to a miniscule four seconds for tire and brake changes and then the racers will be back on the track for more controlled mayhem.

Other changes that apply to the cars are a reduced front tire width (from 270mm to 245mm) and the removal of wheel fairings. The reduced front tire size is to ensure a better grip balance between the front and rear tires which had been an issue in 2009. The removal of the wheel fairings will potentially minimise the margin for error during the four second tire changes at pit stops.

This year's championship hosts 13 teams and 26 cars, an increase of three teams. As such, there have been changes made to the qualifying knockout session. Instead of the original five driver knockout, this year will see eight drivers knocked out during both Q1 and Q2, leaving 10 drivers to battle it out for the pole position in Q3. The point system has been changed accordingly:

1st Place - 25 Points
2nd Place - 18 Points
3rd Place - 15 Points
4th Place - 12 Points
5th Place - 10 Points
6th Place - 8 Points
7th Place - 6 Points
8th Place - 4 Points
9th Place - 2 Points
10th Place - 1 Point

Finally, if a team announces a substitution of a current driver with a new driver who has not participated in a Formula1 race in the past two years, a full day of testing will be allowed the driver as opposed to only straight line testing. This is to allow the driver a reasonable amount of time to immerse in all aspects of the races.