Season revs up
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The most obvious difference from 2010 will see the return of Pirelli as the sole tire supplier, 20 years after its last race at a rain-swept Australian Grand Prix in 1991.
More pit stops, more risky and complex strategies and, almost certainly, more overtaking - they are the likely key outcomes of the Formula One rule and technical changes for 2011.
The most obvious difference from 2010 will see the return of Pirelli as the sole tire supplier 20 years after its last race at a rain-swept Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1991.
Pirelli was given a simple set of goals - to improve the excitement in the sport - and to do that has gone against the instincts of any tire company by increasing the degradation and wear rate of its rubber.
This will encourage multi-pit-stop races, increase the range of strategies likely to be used and put greater emphasis on drivers who can manage their tires carefully, men like the 2009 champion Briton Jenson Button.
The Sauber team's technical director, James Key, said: "The tires are quite 'peaky'. On the first lap, the grip is quite good, but then it needs to be managed.
"We will see more complicated and detailed strategies now. There will be more pit stops and the pit crews will be under more pressure. And for the engineers on the pit wall, it will all be far more unpredictable."
Like the rest, he will also have to look after another new feature - an adjustable rear wing that will help to give chasing drivers an advantage on the straights and also increase passing moves.
In another move, the sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA), has reintroduced KERS, the system that allows the kinetic energy created and stored by braking to be used for power-boosts when required.
All of this will give the drivers more to do in their cockpits, and add to the workload of the pit-wall boffins, as they calculate what is needed to gain ascendancy over a rival - providing it is considered to be safe enough by the drivers who have expressed concern.
In the end, the biggest winners will be the fans as there will be more drama, more excitement and more unpredictability as this year's long season unfolds.
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