Rubens Barrichello reckons drivers will have to think before doing any kamikaze moves at the start of the race thanks to heavier fuel loads and the possibility of flat spotting your tyres so early in the race.
We have become accustom to exciting starts, with drivers diving down the inside, or being pushed wide, but that may all be a memory as cars will be slower off the line and drivers will have to be much more careful going into turn one.
“If you flat spot your tyres on the first lap you’re done. So yes you have got to be much more of a thinker,” Barrichello told Autosport.
When asked which was more important to preserve, the brakes of tyres, Rubens insisted the latter.
“The tyres. Because the brakes might be cold, so if you overreact on the pedal you just flat spot the tyre. You cannot do 70 laps on a flat spot tyre but you can drive with brakes that are not working as good.”
With the possibility of teams pushing for one-stop strategies, tyres will have to last much longer, yet the wear rates will be much increased thanks to the heavier load, and the pressure put on them under braking.
Despite this, Barrichello reckons it will lead to more overtaking.
“I think there will be more overtaking most probably. I think it is going to be a mixed thing because there will be cars that are eventually better on low fuel than high fuel, or the other way around, so I think the grid is going to be a bit more mixed and that will allow more overtaking. Which hopefully we are going to get.”
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