Worrying signs after 'Bore Rain'

Bahrain's season-opening Grand Prix failed to live up to expectations. Some dubbed it the 'Bore Rain GP' and spoke of urgent remedies. Australian driver Mark Webber blamed "dicking" with the rules regarding pit stops for fuel.

A tank of gas for a 300 kilometer Grand Prix weighs about 160 kilograms - about one quarter of the entire weight of the car. Typically an F1 machine will be 0.3 seconds faster per lap for every 10 kilograms (or four laps worth) of fuel removed. So it was that in 1982 designer Gordon Murray introduced strategic pit stops with the now defunct Brabham team (then owned by F1 impresario Bernie Ecclestone). Murray realized his cars could complete a race distance more quickly if they ran light of fuel and with stickier tires - and made a pit stop at half distance.

To speed up the flow, Murray delivered the fuel from a beer barrel pressurised with air. This and other concerns about safety meant fuel stops were banned in 1984. They were re-introduced a decade later. This was convenient for Ferrari whose cars then were thirstier and thus had to carry more fuel than the opposition. For 2010, in a bid to cut costs, the sport's regulators prohibited fuel stops and thus the need for transporting heavy refuelling equipment.