Engineers predict grid shake up

The Formula 1 grid could be mixed up even more than was the case in Australia a fortnight ago, according to two of the leading engineers in grand prix racing, according to this week's AUTOSPORT magazine

Mar 20, 2003, 10:34 AM

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, both Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne and WilliamsF1's chief operations engineer Sam Michael say that mid-order teams now know what it takes to get an artificially high starting position.

"You may find that teams start using more extreme strategies," said Gascoyne. "If we thought we could qualify third or fourth with a sensible fuel load, we should do that. But we may choose to drop some fuel, get our car on pole and then deal with it from there. It might mean we have to do an extra pit stop, but it might just be worth it."

Michael added: "For the top teams it doesn't make sense, but for a team that normally qualified 15th it means they can get track position for 10 laps or so. Then, if there is a safety car, they can come in and out of the pits a lot better off than they were."