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The F2009 is actually the F60. Ferrari were the first F1 team to unveil their 2009 car today, and the name commemorates the Scuderia’s 60 years in Formula One. Pictures of the new car were released on the Ferrari website before Felipe Massa took the car to the track at Mugello.

As expected the new Ferrari looks quite different from last year’s car with a high, narrow rear wing and a much wider front wing. The central section of the front wing is clear of many of the aerodynamic surfaces we saw last year with only stubby side elements. In fact the whole bodywork is much smoother with none of the slotted “gills” or little flick-ups that attached themselves like barnacles to the bodies of the cars over the season.

The Ferrari website describes the “possibility of using a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS)” and goes on to say it is “centrally mounted on the engine under the rear part of the chassis”. Ferrari have admitted to being behind schedule in their KERS development so it remains to be seen whether this “possibility” is made use of in the opening races of the season. You can see in this picture of the new F60 steering wheel there is a dial marked KERS and a big red button labeled “K” that would seem to be the button for triggering the KERS boost.

Ferrari usually manages to build good looking cars and while the 2009 regulations have created quite a different looking car from last year I think it still looks pretty good. The smooth lines of the bodywork are nice and I’m sure we’ll get used to the new look. Now if they would only ban those wheel covers so we can see some glowing discs again!

Ferrari will be the first to reveal their 2009 car on Monday 12 January when Felipe Massa will drive it round the Ferrari test track at Fiorano. Although Ferrari will be first to launch their car it won’t be in legal race spec for the opening Grand Prix in Australia on 29 March. Ferrari have been having issues with their KERS development and it is still unclear whether they will start the season with the device or introduce it later in the year.

This kicks of a busy couple of weeks of car releases from most of the other teams. Toyota is next on 15 January, closely followed by McLaren a day later then Williams and Renault on 19 January. BMW will release their car on 20 January while Red Bull has chosen to wait until 9 February to launch their car. This should allow Mark Webber time to recover fully from his broken leg before testing the car.

There are still no official dates for Force India and Toro Rosso but it is expected they will appear in early March. Both teams are dependent on technology from other constructors; Toro Rosso from it’s sister team Red Bull and Force India is using a Mercedes Benz engine and will run with a KERS system and other parts supplied by McLaren, including a full gearbox and hydraulic system.

As for Honda, they continue to develop their 2009 car but unless a buyer can be found soon it’s unlikely we’ll see them on the grid in Melbourne.

2008 saw some controversial decisions by the stewards with the most controversial being the decision to strip Lewis Hamilton’s win in the Belgian Grand Prix and in so doing hand the victory to Filipe Massa. After watching one of the most exciting races of the year fans then discovered two hours later that the stewards had applied a 25 second penalty to Hamilton’s time and he wasn’t in fact the winner. Niki Lauda called this “the worst judgment in the history of Formula One” and there were many calls for changes to the way stewarding worked to try to increase the transparency and consistency of decisions. Three-times championship winner Sir Jackie Stewart said:

it’s being overseen by people who are not doing it full-time and we get inconsistent decisions. In football, rugby, tennis or cricket you have professional referees and umpires who do their jobs day in, day out and you have accountability. We need that in motorsport.

It seems the FIA has taken these criticisms on board and in a meeting on 5 November 2008 the World Motorsport Council agreed the following changes:

• Any national steward participating who is officiating for the first time will be required to ‘observe’ a minimum of one Grand Prix prior to their event.
• At five Grands Prix in 2009, a number of trainee Stewards, nominated by their ASN and selected by the FIA, will be invited to attend.
• Before each Grand Prix, a short CV of each steward will be posted on the FIA website.
• With the benefit of a new replay system available to the stewards, all incidents will be investigated and appropriate action taken during the race, unless it is essential to seek further evidence afterwards.
• Following the race, a short written explanation of steward’s decisions will be published on the FIA website. This will supplement the formal steward’s decision which largely defines the breach of the rules.
• Where appropriate, additional film evidence that the public may not have seen but which was reviewed by the stewards, will be made available on both the FIA and FOM websites.

Hopefully these changes will bring a consistency and transparency to the stewards decisions in 2009. In particular it seems we won’t have any more outcomes being changed after the conclusion of the race. In what is already one of the most highly regulated sports the emphasis should be on the wheel-to-wheel racing not on the rules. Obviously rules are necessary and if they are broken then appropriate penalties should be applied but we don’t want a situation where drivers are afraid to make a racing move because they don’t know if they will be penalised later.

Consistency of decisions will also help to dispel the conspiracy theories about Ferrari’s special place in F1 (even if they do make for some funny jokes.)

Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo has said he wants more “real tracks” instead of the new “tourist tracks” like Singapore and Valencia:

Having two or three Monte Carlos is too much.  Next time we can race inside the Coliseum, or maybe inside the Papacy. This is not racing.

Now as awesome as F1 cars racing around the Coliseum sounds (preferably with spikes on the wheels) I do agree to a certain extent.  Luca makes a good point when he says “we need to improve competition, so that the racing is good not only when it rains or the Safety Car creates a situation.”  How many times in 2008 did a fairly average race suddenly become more exciting because of wet weather?  The opportunity for exciting racing has to be the main consideration when choosing where to go racing.

I don’t agree with Di Montezemolo’s opinion of the Singapore Grand Prix, though.  I thought this was a fantastic event.  The cars looked awesome under the lights and there was real excitement watching the way the drivers dealt with the slippery surface. Now that most teams use those ugly wheel covers that hide the glowing disc brakes it was nice to see flames spitting from the exhaust in the low light.  I’m sure Ferrari’s poor performance in Singapore has nothing to do with his dislike of the circuit…

But just because Singapore worked doesn’t mean we should suddenly start adding night races everywhere.  This would detract from the specialness of Singapore.  In fact I would be happy for Singapore to remain the only night race on the calendar.  Monaco is special because of its history.  But it is also special because there is no other race like it.

It was Andrew’s suggestion that I write a regular post covering the latest crazy thing to come out of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s mouth. Whether it’s saying that Honda’s departure was “no great loss” or suggesting some new medals scheme instead of points, you just know it won’t be long before the 5′ billionaire says something controversial.

This week the Times reports that, responding to Ferrari boss Luca Di Montezemolo’s remark that the sport did not need a “dictator”, Bernie put an actual figure on the extra money that Ferrari get over the other teams:

The only thing he has not mentioned is the extra money Ferrari get above all the other teams and all the extra things Ferrari have had for years – the ‘general help’ they are considered to have had in Formula One

He went on:

They know exactly what they get, they are not that stupid, although they are not that bright, either. They get about $80 million (about £54 million) more. When they win the constructors’ championship, which they did this year, they got $80 million more than if McLaren had won it.

Personally, I like the little dictator. I always enjoy Martin Brundle’s interviews with him on his pit walks. Bernie never seems quite sure where he is or what he’s meant to be doing.