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.”
'F1 2009' Wii – Review

Codemasters have just released F1 2009 on the PSP and Wii – the first fully licenced F1 game since F1 Championship
Edition/F1 2006, and I have managed to get a copy of the Wii version, and have reviewed it for anf1blog.com.To start with you can drive all of the 10 teams and 20 drivers that started the season only, for example there is no Kobayashi or Alguersuari – Glock and Bourdais are there instead.
The Nintendo Wii in theory should be an ideal platform for driving simulations, with it’s motion sensor control, especially with the F1 style steering wheel that comes in the Wii bundle, yet the only other proper driving game on this console is Ferrari Challenge.
Enough introduction, lets get racing!
There are your regular modes in F1 games that also feature in F1 2009 – in the single player department there is; Championship, Career, Challenge, Time Trial and Grand Prix Weekend. There is also a multiplayer section in the menu which allows you to play; Challenge, Race and even a multiplayer Championship mode – one which I am very fond of. I love how I – a veteran of driving games can drive with very little driving aids, against my brother who hardly knows the difference between F1 and rallying, yet he can put on the driving aids and beat me, and that is a great feature.
One issue however is that there is no online mode – a slight disappointment for avid online gamers such as myself.
So, lets hit the track!
When you first enter the game, you can create a profile which also asks you to set your driving aids. Having played a couple of driving ’simulators’ before, I thought this game was going to be more of an arcade style than it actually is, and would let me win everything with the settings on the highest modes possible. I was wrong. I was shocked at how much handling detail they had put into this game – I found it really hard to put any power down without spinning, and never seemed to get any traction.
I left the game and went into the menu, and turned on the anti-skid and anti-wheelspin driving aids. Much better! I could put the power down without losing my nose cone.
Out of the various camera modes you get while driving the car, I prefered the T-bar camera you see on the onboard footage on the TV – I have always prefered this camera, but it was even better on F1 2009 as you could match what was happening onscreen with the F1-style wheel you get in the bundle I mentioned earlier on.
The F1 wheel is another great thing about this game. For those who have played ‘Mario Kart’ on the Wii and therefore already have the Nintendo Wii wheel then you won’t miss out too much if you don’t get the bundle with the wheel in – it adds slightly to the driving experience but nothing too much. However if you only have the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, I would seriously think about forking out that extra bit of cash to get the wheel, as the game would not be half as good without it.
One slight issue, and I mean very, very slight is a bit of ‘lag’ or drop in frame rate slightly when you turn a corner and the Wii has to render a lot of cars at once. You wouldn’t really notice it was it not for the sudden snap back into high FPS when you accelerate on to a straight and there is no one around.
Despite the fact I said that there was quite challenging handling earlier on in this review, it does not detract from the fact that this game is pretty much an arcade game, particularly with the driving aids on. But this does not matter. With the Wii wheel and a mate, this game is a winner. I wouldn’t advise rFactor or any people looking for a proper F1 sim to switch to this game, but it is a lot of fun, and gives you just a tiny bit of an experience of what an F1 driver goes through, but for any casual gamer this is a lot of fun.
To check out some screenshots visit our gallery. For a trailer of this game read on.
anf1blog.com Rating: 4/5
Do you have this game on Wii or PSP? Let us know what you think and drop us a comment:












