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Whitmarsh in favour of refuelling ban

"Now the incentive to overtake is greater"

By

29 January 2010 - 13:49

The cars will all line up on the grid for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with approximately 160 kilos of fuel on board.

With refuelling banned this year, the driver will obviously have to complete the Grand Prix distance by managing his tyres on a heavy fuel load. This according to McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is a benefit to the sport as it adds another dimension to strategy - but arguably more importantly - increases the likelihood of on-track passing.

"There’s always been a task for the drivers to manage the fuel and tyres, it’s clearly emphasised when you have such heavy cars potentially in longer stints," Whitmarsh began at the launch of the new MP4-25 challenger.

"I think it’s a good thing, it adds another aspect - by banning refuelling there are clearly pros and cons," he continued. "A lot of us really enjoy the strategy and the tactics that arose from having different fuel loads. Those of us very engrossed in the race - the planning of it, the execution of it - had tremendous fun and interest.

"Whether the public fully always understood that, obviously some people did and some people didn’t, I think here we have something that is simpler to understand and also there were clearly times last year where the driver was behind another car and knew he would stop earlier - and the incentive to risk overtaking was lower. Now the incentive to overtake is greater.

"Hopefully that will be one element that will help the spectacle of Formula One racing."