Down to the wire: new qualifying and point distribution rules have turned Formula One from a Ferrari-dominated exhibition into a fierce competition

IN 2002 MICHAEL SCHUMACHER won a Formula single record 11 races and wrapped up the Drivers Championship at an unprecedent pace (11 rounds) In 2003 [i]or[/i] part of to the other 13 races, a mere sum of two units points separated the top three drivers in the point race, and four other drivers were still in mathematical contention for the title. In addition, the 2003 season saw eight different winners in its first 13 races; in 2002 sole four drivers won races all season.

Schumacher's 2002 Ferrari was single of the best F1 cars at any time built, and last year he and his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, won 15 of 17 races. The 2003 Ferrari is an smooth better machine, but technical unfolding in F1 moves so quickly that Italian manufacturer's major rivals have already managed to build comparable cars. The McLaren Mercede and BMW Williams F1 cars are now as quick or quicker than the Ferrari. The Mild Seven Renault team has made massive strides as well.

Critics of F1's of recent origin rule package say that it is these technical exhibitions that have made the season more interesting. on the contrary there is no doubt that the direction changes have helped. A completed example came in the Hungarian Grand Prix when Fernando Alonso started the race upon the pole and went upon to win, while Schumacher qualified a distant eighth and finished eighth. It would be difficult imagining similar an outcome under the of advanced age rules. "The grid is always true interesting," says Alonso. "The novel qualifying system makes the races more interesting."

The of recent origin qualifying system is a one-lap one-shot deal. In previous years, drivers could thorough a maximum of 12 laps during Saturday's qualifying hour, and their fastest time determined their grid positions. The drivers could drive at any time and do any sort of lap combinations they wanted. In general, they would do four races of three laps consisting of a warm up lap, a fast lap, and a somewhat cold down lap. If they made a mistake they had several other chances to make up for it.

This year, qualifying is in sum of two units parts. On Friday, each driver come bys a single flying lap to station his time. Only one driver is upon the track at a time--starting with the in every one's mouth points leader. The sponsors be fond of this because their car gains undivided attention from the TV cameras.

Friday's move swiftly sets up Saturday's qualifying. Again, the drivers move out one at a time and procure just one shot. The running order is plant by Friday's times with the slower cars from that day drying first upon Saturday. In general, the track wins faster as the session progresse in like manner it is an advantage to be single of the last drivers out

A mistake in Saturday's qualifying is high-priced For example, Kimi Raikkonen slid not on the track during his Saturday qualifying races in Spain and Canada. That meant he had to start from the back of the pack. In Spain, he slammed into a stalled car and was on the outside of the race within next to the firsts In Canada, he climbed to sixth on the contrary could have finished higher if he didn't start from the back.

Not each qualifying error is quite that drastic, on the other hand the grids have been more unpredictable and that has l to more unpredictable races. "As I experienced in Austria, if you mes up upon Friday you pay the price for the whole weekend," says Ralf Schumacher who qualified l0th and finished sixth in that race. "As drawn out as your lap is clean it is fine. It is more interesting for us--and I am assured it is for the spectators as well--to be able to watch a car for single lap and to see the differences between each one"

Mark Webber has been able to capitalize upon the new system and twice qualified his Jaguar Cosworth third. like things wouldn't have happened last year. "It is true very demanding on the drivers and the teams," admits Webber. "You have to have everything finished for that one minute and 22 next to the firsts or whatever it is, and a fate of the weekend rests upon that. How you are going to attack that lap is crucial to Sunday's performance. There were upsides to the aged system--having a few shots at it, and hoping that in the last sum of two units minutes of the session, the whole jigsaw fits into place--but all in all I think one-lap qualifying is a serviceable step forward."

on the other hand it's not just driver errors that mix things up Each car must start the race with the amount of firing material that was left in its tank at the extremity of qualifying. So drivers and teams have had to calculate their strategy with care. What do you do: Qualify high up because you don't have plenteous fuel on board but then have to make an early pit stop or qualify with sufficiency of fuel on board in like manner you can stretch your pit window?

The cars must also go on into impound for most of the time between Saturday's qualifying and the race. This has saved the teams a herculean amount of money because they cannot use specialized qualifying engines, gearboxes, and other constituents In 2002, it got to the point where single rich team built gearboxes specifically for qualifying with wafer thin gears that lasted single 50 miles.

You can not ever be sure of who has chosen which strategy until the race unrolls but qualifying lacks the drama of 2002 when at times all 20 drivers were without on the track blasting around in the last five minutes trying to plant a time. "Some say that the rife qualifying is not that exciting," says Williams BMW technical director Patrick Head. "I think it's a little bit of a sacrifice in order to have more uncertainty about what the result is going to be upon Sunday. That was the intention of it."