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Pit Stop

Blimey, who'd have thought it? You pick up your laptop for the first column of the year and find the world of F1 unrecognisable from five months ago. It's amazing what a global financial crisis can do to a sport that isn't football.

The event that changed the future face of F1 was Honda's decision to quit the sport. It came out of the blue, linked to Honda's problems in the real world. Like all carmakers, it is being battered by the world's economic problems. Unlike the other manufacturers, it decided spending hundreds of millions a year on F1 was ridiculous.

And so the stampede to cut costs started. The teams, chastened by the unthinkable actually happening, started the bidding by looking to halve costs. Last week the Max/Bernie/FIA axis played its hand, proposing a ?30 million-a-year (HK$340 million) voluntary cap from 2010. Those who stay within it will get advantages such as higher engine revs and better aerodynamics.

There are two big problems with this. Firstly, how on earth are you going to police team budgets? In a sport rife with subterfuge, this is just asking for trouble. Though it's laudable to help smaller teams and encourage new ones to the grid, having in effect two sets of rules is against the spirit of F1.

Of course, this wouldn't be the sport we love without Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley contriving to lob a hand grenade from left field. The duo decided the winner of the most races would win the championship. Fans will be thankful the teams managed to get it thrown out on a procedural point.

Sorry Bernie and Max, but in this case winning isn't everything. What about a driver racing out of his skin in an average car, like Robert Kubica last year? What about consistency? To win you would have just needed a blindingly fast but unreliable car. No matter if it breaks down every other race, just as long as it wins the others. The season could be over long before the end with one driver racking up enough wins to go on holiday for the last two months and still be world champion.

The season ahead is going to be the start of a new era, mark my words. For a start, the cars look a lot different. High and small wings at the back, low and wide at the front, with a simplified body. Best of all, slick tyres are back. All of this is designed to make overtaking easier by reducing downforce.

Engines will have to last a lot longer and there will be no in-season testing outside of the race weekend. It's all aimed at cutting costs, but it has also had an effect on the drivers lining up on the grid. Experience is everything, so although Sebastian Buemi steps up from GP2 to the Torro Rosso team, drivers like Bruno Senna have missed out at Brawn GP.

Finally to predictions. Pre-season testing suggests results could be turned on their head, too. The new McLaren-Mercedes has been awful this spring, a couple of seconds off the pace. With no more testing, the teams' engineers will be desperately scrabbling around at race weekends to improve times. It will be interesting to see if world champion Lewis Hamilton can respond. So far his career has always involved cars at the sharp end. If he's made of the right stuff, he will squeeze every last ounce of speed out of a midfield car.

McLaren's woes will be music to Ferrari's ears. If they can get off to a strong start, surely it should be their year. It may even be that Felipe Massa gets to win a most deserved world title, but the likes of BMW, Renault and Toyota will be stronger this year. Don't rule out Fernando Alonso as a real title challenger. He has the craft to tame the new-style cars.

The surprise package though will be the new Brawn GP team. Only assured of their existence a couple of weeks ago after Ross Brawn led a management buyout of Honda, they've been ripping up the track in testing. The former Ferrari man has fashioned a car that sticks to the track like glue and has been seconds ahead of the competition. Don't be surprised if they manage to win a race or two and even be in the title mix. It could almost be enough to tempt Honda to buy the team back, but ironically the engine inside the car is now a Mercedes.

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