Refuelling, it's been the pits

A new season of Formula 1 beckons, and already – only a few weeks since the season ended – so much has changed.

Of course, you can follow all the latest developments here, but as the pieces of the driver puzzle have still yet to fall into their final resting place, let’s talk about something else … rule changes.

OK, there’s always a few, but this time at long last, there’s one I’m absolutely delighted about – the banning of refuelling.

We have been cheated from seeing so many on-the-track battles since refuelling was made mandatory for the 1994 F1 season, teams opting to save fuel and banzai a few ‘in’ and ‘out’ laps in a bid to overtake a rival without the risk of an on-track collision – how very, very dull.

Of course, Michael Schumacher, along with the strategic brains of Ross Brawn, was the master of this style of racing, and so many races were decided on strategy. He’s got the titles to prove it, and fair play to him, he was probably the best out there anyway.

In 2010, it will be all change. No more waiting to see the fuel loads before we can see who was fastest in qualifying; no more ’save fuel’ modes between pitstops, it’s back to basics.

I grew to love Formula 1 during the early 1990s, watching Senna’s McLaren and Nigel Mansell’s Williams battling it out on the track, none of this ‘he’s pitting – push, push, push’ rubbish we’ve become accustomed to. In my opinion, banning refuelling can only add to the F1 spectacle.

We’ll see more overtaking, see which drivers can use their tyres better, and see which drivers can adapt to a changing car beneath them. Fuel down the years, however, has produced some dramatic scenes down the years.

HAKKED OFF
In 1997 McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen was thrown out of the Belgian GP after finishing third, the race stewards ruling his fuel was not the correct formula. (It was a dramatic race for other reasons too. The race was started behind the safety car for the first time in F1 history. It’s a race to forget for Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. He started on dry tyres and spun off on the way to the grid, later explaining to ITV:

“I had nothing to lose, and I lost it.”

HEARTBREAK FOR AYRTON
At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Mansell took pole in the Williams, Senna filling the front row in his McLaren. Senna took Mansell at the start, but Mansell took the place back before the end of the lap. But it was heartbreak for Senna as he ran out of fuel on the last lap. After taking the chequered flag, Mansell sportingly gave Senna a lift back to the pits, one of the iconic images of f1 history.

MASSA LOSES OUT

At the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix, it was a one-two finish for Brawn GP, but a fuel problem for Felipe Massa made for an interesting climax. Massa was comfortable in third, but the data was telling the Ferrari team the Brazilian would run out of fuel before crossing the line. As a result, Massa had to slow and was gradually caught and the passed by Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. He then lost fourth place to Alonso’s Renault on the last lap.

After the race Massa said:

“It’s a real shame to have lost two places in the final stages. We knew we couldn’t match the pace of the Brawns but we had managed to get ahead of the Red Bulls and, but for the fuel problem, I could have certainly stayed ahead of Vettel and Alonso. The final part of the race was a pain. I was already struggling on the harder tyres and then I had to try and save fuel as much as possible, while at the same time staying ahead of Vettel. Then the team told me that if I wanted to make it to the finish, I would have to let Vettel by and slow down a lot: if I had made another pit stop I would have finished out of the points.”

It was later reported by Ferrari the Massa did in fact have enough fuel to finish the race – harsh!

FERRARI FUEL BLUNDER
Although the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix will be remembered for Nelson Piquet Jr’s intentional run-in with the concrete barrier, it was a nightmare for Ferrari after Massa left the pits with the fuel hose still attached, which resulted in him finishing dead last. This could have been the difference between him taking the World Championship crown and finishing runner-up – harsh again.

KIMI HOT UNDER THE COLLAR
At the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2009, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen was released from his pit while the fuel hose was still attached. The fuel hose sprayed Kimi Raikkonen, who was exiting the pits at the time, and exhaust ignited the spilt fuel. Fortunately, the Ferrari fireball didn’t burn too long, and no-one was injured. Both drivers were able to continue once Brawn mechanics extricated the hose from Kovalainen’s car.

Raikkonen revealed after the race that some drops of petrol ended up in his eye. He said:

“What happened on the first lap ruined my race. First I was hit at the first corner, then when trying to pass Webber, I was hit and lost the front wing. At the pit stop, I ended up with some drops of petrol in my eye, from the fuel line stuck on Kovalainen’s car and then I was engulfed in flames and blinded. I was going to stop, but luckily the flames soon went out. Even now, my eyes are still burning, but I’m alright.”

DUTCH COURAGE
But without a doubt, the most dramatic refuelling incident took place at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in 1994.Coming into the pits everything seemed fine for the Dutchman in his Benetton, but when the fuel hose was attached a sudden burst of fuel which splashed over the car. There was a pause, then the intense heat from the engine ignited the fuel, sending the Benetton pit into a fireball. Fire hoses put the massive flames were put out within three seconds, with Verstappen escaping with only minor burns. It was later discovered that the filter inside the hose has been team tampered with, possibly in an attempt to make the fuel pass through the system quicker, and thus reduce pit stop times. The Benetton team were later sanctioned for their actions.

Mechanic Steve Matchett recalled the event in his 1999 book, The Mechanic’s tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One:

“I participated in well over four hundred pit stops with Benetton, and in the vast majority of them I escaped with nothing more than a rapidly beating heart. But in Hockenheim, during the 1994 German Grand Prix, as we tried to refuel Jos Verstappen’s B194, our luck finally ran out and the Benetton mechanics were caught amid the flames of the most spectacular fuel fire Formula One has seen. The next morning photographs of us, our overall aflame, made the front page of every daily newspaper throughout the world. With the quick-release rear jack I was responsible for lifting the back of the car, while my opposite number, Kenny, operated the front. It had been agreed that we wouldn’t “drop” the car until the refuelling hose had been removed -as this would prevent the driver trying to leave early, dragging the fuel rig and Simon, the mechanic brave enough to operate it, down the pitlane should it become jammed

The fuel hose went on, and through the powerful heat haze which surrounded the car I kept and eye on Simon, waiting for him to signal that he had finished. But what I saw was a spray of fuel flooding over the bodywork drenching the mechanics who had started to change the tyres, and washing over the rear wing towards the disc brakes. Time slowed down to a snail’s pace. My god, I though, we were lucky that didn’t go up! Then it did.

The car disappeared in a ball of white flame, and I remember a noise like a rush of air produced before an underground train enters the station. My overalls were on fire and I remember rolling on the ground trying to extinguish the flames. The McLaren mechanics came running to help and it was their speed and efficiency that saved me from serious injury.”