Showing Their Metal

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Rather than let the lack of equality bother them, F1 fans embrace the technological warfare that defines their sport. For this year's championship, each of the leading teams has spent around $300 million on building and fine-tuning its cars. Behind the drivers is a network of boffins — engineers, mechanics, wind-tunnel experts — charged with analyzing the performance of every system of last year's model with the goal of making the new one faster. Inevitably, the high stakes have led to skulduggery. The sport's governing body, the Paris-based International Automobile Federation (FIA), last year fined McLaren a record $100 million for possessing 800 pages of confidential technical data about the cars of arch rival Ferrari. The FIA also stripped McLaren of all its points in the constructors' race, handing the title to Ferrari and splashing fuel onto this year's volatile mix of engines and egos.

Whether it's tinkering with hydraulics, aerodynamics or something else, "The discipline you have to bring to the technical exercise is extreme," McLaren boss Ron Dennis has said. "One weak element and you're not going to win." For the investment over the years, people get to see cars that accelerate from zero to 160 km/h in 3.5 sec., and are so endowed with aerodynamic downforce that, in theory, you could drive one of these babies across the ceiling. Eventually, some of that technology filters down into the cars that the rest of us get around in: the steering wheel-mounted control systems, variable valve timing and traction control in your family car are all hand-me-downs from Formula One R&D.

Arguably, though, the sheer engineering ingenuity of the F1 teams has diminished the sport's appeal. All 11 teams contesting the championship this year have produced machines of amazing quality. And all F1's pilots possess extraordinary gifts, not least the ability to make split-second decisions on steering, gear changes and strategy under the most trying conditions. But sport at the highest level is about separating the great from the really good, and some engineering advances have muddied the process. Part of all cars' armory from 2002-'07 was traction control, an electronic aid that kicks in when the rear wheels begin to spin or slide. Say you're driving through a tight corner in the rain. At the midway point you floor the accelerator. Because an F1 car is both ultra-light and ultra-powerful, your action would surely cause the rear wheels to spin and the car to slide out of control. But not with the magic of traction control, which overrides your foot and cuts power. You could hear this happening, by the way — the engine note changed from smooth to bombing-raid violent as the device interrupted detonation in certain cylinders. And according to many experts, it reduced driver skill in the racing equation. The sublimely skilled driver with impeccable throttle control in slippery conditions was brought down to the level of the leadfoot who simply pounded the accelerator and hung on.

Traction control is history. The FIA has banned it for this season (along with launch control, which through comparable mechanisms made starting races easier for drivers and more predictable for fans). Its abolition has been widely applauded. British F1 pioneer Stirling Moss calls traction control an "appalling device." Jones argues that fans come to the track first and foremost to see superb driving. "You don't see all the technical bulls___ that's going on underneath," he says. "People want to see overtaking, locking up brakes, cars going sideways coming out of a corner because the driver's put his foot on the accelerator prematurely."

The current drivers are not, understandably, sounding quite so cavalier. The end of traction control should suit those with recent experience in other grades of motor racing where the device is banned, and those who are strong in the rain. The first impulse of Räikkönen's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, on the other hand, is to max out acceleration, regardless of the conditions, and few were surprised by the Brazilian's involvement in the first-lap mayhem in Melbourne, nor his spinout on lap 31 in Sepang, where he appeared to have second place (and a one-two finish for Ferrari) in the bag.

Hamilton has said that while he has no desire to waste his life, he's never felt afraid while racing cars. Pre-season testing without traction control, however, whitened his knuckles a little. "It does make it a little more tense on corner entry," he said after a session in Jerez, Spain. But after victory in Melbourne, Hamilton was a convert: "This is real racing," he said. "It is how it should be."

A chance to identify, with greater certainty, the best of the best is the promise F1 is holding out this year. Almost certainly, Ferrari and McLaren still have the fastest cars. But with technical aids on the scrap heap, drivers from BMW, Renault and maybe even Williams could just get a look-in. And F1 may gain a new legion of fans — those who, while they'll never be transfixed by fast-moving, logo-covered machines, could be won over by the brave and brilliant souls who control them.

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