Makes me wonder if the drivers will be trying to charge their KERS in the formation lap – will we see them breaking heavily to do this?

On a completely unrelated note, does anyone know what the parts shown in this picture are?

Just about to leave work & head over to the track now, so I’ll see what I can suss out about the diffuser row, KERS, and the boycott rumour & report back. Any other controversies I’ve forgotten about?

Sheesh, season hasn’t even started yet and already there are dramas. Is it too much to ask that we have a season of just pure racing & no 3 ring circus?

That is of course if the wiring is lined on the body of the nose cone, which means it could fit onto the main body via means of a location pin and locking mechanism. Based on what I’ve seen during front wing changesm it looks to be something like this. So I don’t think the wiring will be a problem.

1. Jenson
2. Rubens
3. Kubica

Lewis won’t make Q3 or past 10 laps of the race, he’ll crash pushing too hard in his slow car.

Most irritating about it all though is the time its taking to sort it – it would be much better if they had declared it either way and if it was illegal then the teams could sort it before Melbourne, rather than risk being disqualified – wont be a good start to the season if six cars are removed from the first race result – as if F1 needs anything else to make it look like a joke at the minute!

Aside from all that though, I really cant wait for the new season, its the most excited i have been about it for quite a while – think its because i cant predict whatsoever who is going to do well! Hopefully itll be right close all year!

I’m a BMW and Williams girl me, so I would be pretty darn happy with either BMW guy winning (although Heidfeld would be best, after all this time without a win – plus I really rate Heidfeld – fancy him for a strong title challenge this season)

Or maybe with some adverse weather conditions and a safety car or two – Nico Rosberg taking the win! Although methinks that is a little optimistic! Maybe the Williams will be real good this year though – I’ve never been one to do well at predictions!

In tracks where the start/finsh is on the main straight I guess that means potentially a driver can use KERS for over 10 seconds at a time (a few seconds before the line and then 6.6 secs after).

But would the batteries hold enough charge for more than one use? If not, would the KERS be able to re-charge while the driver is going down a straight and not braking?

How do the FIA know how many seconds each drvier has used KERS per lap? Is it real time?

I suspect it’s all done through the standard ECU.

How do the FIA know how many seconds each drvier has used KERS per lap? Is it real time?

What it the penalty if a driver uses it for over the legal amount? Stop Go??

So many questions….

Two team principals have allegedly threatened to wreck the start of the Formula One season following dispute over cheque.
Bernie Ecclestone has had much on his plate in recent weeks but, even by Formula One’s standards, a meeting at his London office last week was unusual. The Times can reveal that two team principals got so hot under the collar about money that they claim he owes them that they threatened to organise a boycott of the opening race of the season in Melbourne on Sunday.

In the confrontation, Flavio Briatore and Ron Dennis, the team principal of Renault and the chairman of McLaren Mercedes respectively, allegedly told Ecclestone that they would not put their cars on the specially chartered freight planes last Sunday if the billionaire did not write them a cheque. And, according to Ecclestone, they said that other members of the Formula One Teams Association (Fota) would follow suit.

A leaked account of the meeting, which was also attended by John Howett, the team principal of Toyota and the vice-president of Fota, was confirmed in detail by Ecclestone yesterday. The dispute was about money that Ecclestone has agreed to pay the teams, but only after they sign the next Concorde Agreement under which they agree to race, something they have so far failed to do.

“Flavio said, ‘we’re not going to put our cars on the plane, we’re not going to Melbourne,’ ” Ecclestone said. “He — Flavio — started it, aided and abetted by Ron Dennis.” The apparent threat to wreck the start of the Formula One season was countered by a classic Ecclestone ploy. “I picked up the phone to our people that handle all the freight to ask them to cancel the aeroplanes,” the billionaire said. “They were saying, ‘all the Fota-schmota are not going — nobody’s going to go.’ So I said what I’d better do is cancel the aircraft obviously. It costs a fortune to charter those things and almost as much to cancel them.”

The manoeuvre seems to have settled the matter because the Renault and McLaren cars have arrived in Australia, but neither Briatore nor Dennis got their money, which would have been a substantial sum.

Howett is not thought to have joined in with the others and Ecclestone observed: “Poor John was sitting there a bit confused about life in general.” Ecclestone does not mind, in the least, people coming in and threatening this or that, but he said he hates it when they then fail to deliver. “If they come in here with a gun and hold it to my head, they had better be sure they can f***ing pull the trigger,” he said. “And they should make sure it’s got bullets in it because, if they miss, they better look out.”

Apart from that the driver can use it whenever they want.

I’ve read in interviews with drivers that KERS can only be used when the car is doing at least 100 km/h, but I haven’t seen this in the regulations.