Will F1's new rules really change the order?

What are the chances of a big change in the competitive order next year with Formula 1's rule changes? Could we see Red Bull or Ferrari, or even McLaren, hit the front? Or is the change not enough?
Derek Bates, via email

Derek, someone will get it right - the changes are big enough to challenge the teams' lateral thinking.

It's always difficult to topple the top teams because they have the budgets and manpower to get it right. So I suppose Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari should have the upper hand.

But when we get a rule change like this it gives the smaller teams a chance to use their nimbleness to find the best solution, so don't count out Force India.

It's not just going to be all about the aerodynamic changes; the wider tyres are going to make up a larger percentage of the car's grip level, so getting the best out of them is going to be vitally important.

I genuinely believe that a major part of the current performance deficit between the teams is in how they use the tyres. Over the years aerodynamics has become the prime mover in car performance, and as a result the front suspension geometry has not been optimised for tyre usage.

Do diffuser strakes have to reach as low to the ground as possible to form mini-diffuser channels with expansion ratios that are more manageable? After the 1995 stepped-bottom rules came into effect, could the higher-set strakes on the stepped portion of the diffuser still perform this function? Do the strakes in general have to extend the entire length of the diffuser? How do slotted strakes or multi-tabbed strakes work?
Peter Bookcase, via email

Peter, you are correct in how you understand the diffuser functions.

The strakes work better if they are as low as the regulations allow them to be. The length is not quite so critical, and in some cases it's actually better for some of the strakes to be a little shorter in length than is possible.

This allows the low-pressure areas in each section to 'talk' to each other, resulting in a more equal low pressure across the diffuser's rear surface and making the complete diffuser work more as one.

Each section of the diffuser will have different pressures within it. The outer section will have the most leakage from outside and the central section will be most critical to airflow separation. So the position and shape of the strakes is all about controlling these low-pressure areas.

On most cars, the outer diffuser wall turns out fairly abruptly at the rear. This is to try to connect the diffuser to the low-pressure area just behind the rear tyre. Succeed in this and you not only create more downforce, but you also reduce the overall drag.

The aerodynamic engineers will push to try to get part of the diffuser stalling - normally, the centre section at around 25mm rideheight. If this if done correctly it will reduce the downforce, but more importantly the drag, which will increase the car's top speed.

The big problem is making sure that the airflow reattaches as soon as the driver hits the brakes and the rear rideheight increases, otherwise the driver will suffer from braking instability.

Slotted strakes work like a slotted-flap wing. You can work the surface harder before suffering from airflow separation. However, a wing is normally two dimensional whereas the diffuser areas within the strakes are three dimensional, making slotted strakes much more complicated to optimise.

Maurizio Arrivabene keeps making very positive comments about Ferrari, but it seems much of this is just down to optimism. Do you think he's being unrealistic, and what will those working within the team think of what he's saying?
Ben Curtis, via email

He is the team leader and as such he needs to motivate the team. But there is a fine line between motivation and wishful thinking.

No matter how much talking you do, the results speak for themselves and the reality is that Ferrari has been stuck where it is for the last couple of years.

Other than the odd circuit-dependant performance or a Mercedes trip-up, I have not seen anything that says to me that Ferrari is a true championship contender.

With the latest Renault engine development, Red Bull will be getting stronger and this will make Ferrari's life more difficult. Williams should also be in there, with Force India and Toro Rosso nipping at its heels.

So unless Ferrari has a plan to find that half-second it's missing, life is only going to get more difficult.

Do you prefer the old points system, with 10 for the winner down to one for sixth, or the current one?
@boymoon, via Twitter

The problem with the old system of 10 for the winner and one for sixth was that you could have a really good season finishing seventh at every race and have nothing to show for it or sell to potential sponsors.

On the other hand, when you actually scored some points they meant that bit more.

The new system at least gives you something for your hard work, but I think the most important thing is to leave it alone.

A lot of people compare the points scored by different drivers through different eras, but in reality this is all a waste of time as the points system has changed too often.

Fernando Alonso has said nobody is in a better position than McLaren to defeat Mercedes long-term. Do you agree?
Gary Hales, via email

As I said above about Maurizio Arrivabene, I think this is a bit of wishful thinking and, in Fernando's case, self-motivation.

His last few years and the decisions made during them have left him in a difficult situation. He is not a journeyman like some of the old hands in F1 - he wants to win and if he wins enough he knows that third championship will come his way.

If not, I believe he will move onto something else like the World Endurance Championship. He would be a real asset for any of the top sportscar teams as he is a dogged driver that gives total commitment over the length of a race.

As far as McLaren being in the best position to take on Mercedes, again this is wishful thinking. Remember, before Honda came along it had the Mercedes engine - exactly the same as the works team - and didn't exactly shine in 2014.

Before we see McLaren and Honda challenge for a championship, they will need to look at themselves very closely and make some harsh decisions. Both keep talking about how good they are, but they need to wake up to reality and look at the results. They don't lie.

How would the 1997 Jordan have fared on Bridgestones rather than Goodyears? Change in performance, better some places and worse others, or some wins?

Ross Stonefeld, via Twitter

Ross, I suppose the real answer is we'll never know. I certainly would have liked to have had a go with the Bridgestones, but as you say they would probably have been better in a few places and worse in others.

Would we have won a race? We nearly did at Buenos Aires and at Hockenhiem with what we had, so if the Bridgestones would have had the edge at those tracks then possibly.

Kate, I have been to many tracks worldwide but I don't think I've ever been to one and thought of it as a bad race circuit.

There are lots of reasons why you could make this judgement, but in reality they have all got one thing in common: you start the race on the start line and you finish it on the finish line and the first person to do that is classified as the winner.

As for what I would like from a circuit, safety is the biggest requirement but if a driver goes off or runs wide they need to pay the price in lap time.

Ideally, I think a track should have:
- Some good, fast, sweeping corners like Maggots to Chapel at Silverstone
- An amphitheatre or stadium section where the cars come through more than once a lap
- Elevation change in the braking and acceleration areas of a corner
- A couple of medium-speed banked corners where the outside line is a little faster than the inside line
- These corners leading onto an opposite-direction tighter corner where you could see some real overtaking manoeuvres, which would allow us to get rid of the dreaded artificial DRS

I am not a fan of long, drawn-out straights. I can drive as fast as Lewis Hamilton down one of these and, as I have said many times, if you want to see cars overtake each other on the straights, sit at the side of a motorway or go to Santa Pod.

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