New rules likely to spread out field

This season has been one of the closest ever, with the gap between the pace of the first and last cars usually around two seconds per lap in race conditions - a dramatic improvement from even five years ago, when it was nearer four seconds.

The stability of the regulations in the last three seasons has allowed the lesser-funded teams to catch up, as those at the front find there are only minor improvements to be made three years into the development cycle.

The regulations have remained largely untouched since the introduction of 2.4-litre V8 engines after the 2005 season, while the switch to a sole tyre supplier after 2006 allowed the gap to close further.

Force India technical director Mike Gascoyne says the consistency of the rules has allowed teams such as his to make huge strides.

"We've had pretty stable rules for the past few years and that is exactly what has happened," he told this week's Autosport. "There are still those doing a better job, but in the midfield group there are times when you have half a second from seventh to 20th, it's incredibly close.

"If you compare qualifying this year to last year, across all the teams, the average improvement is 0.2 seconds, whereas we're more like 1.4 seconds.

"McLaren and Ferrari are still at the front, but they are generally the teams that have made the least improvement, so you would say those improvements are getting harder to find."

But with regulation changes coming into force in 2009, including KERS systems and a reduction in aerodynamic devices, there will be a much greater window for improvement and teams with greater resources develop at a faster rate.

Although most midfield teams are optimistic of taking a significant step forward, the spread at the season opener in Australia is likely to be far greater than it was this year.

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber predicts that the new regulations will have a detrimental affect on the spectacle at first.

"The racing hasn't been too bad this year," he told Autosport. "My opinion is that next year it will be much more spread out because people will be getting used to the rules.

"It won't be as good in the short term. Whenever you change the rules, some people get it right and some people get it wrong."