In the 64-year history of F1, the beginning of a new season "has never been met with anything like the extreme anticipation now gripping teams and fans" as the series prepares to open its '14 championship next weekend at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, according to Brad Spurgeon of the N.Y. TIMES. With the introduction of regulations aimed at producing cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars and engines, the question for many F1 observers is "whether this attempt to keep pace with the environmental thinking of our times will mark the 2014 season as a technological fiasco for a series that truly has no technological peer." After years of technological stability "new regulations have forced teams to build a type of racing car that has never existed before." Virtually all of the teams "had problems during winter testing." Environmental concerns "have led to fuel limits." Cars will be allowed to use only 100 kilograms of fuel during a race, compared with about 150 in recent years. The stakes "are high for the teams, sponsors and engine manufacturers in this global sport that is constantly under the glare of the media." Given the size of the investments by the involved parties, "it seems certain that every effort will be made to do everything to ensure that the show not only goes on, but that it thrives." In the end, the main beneficiaries of the coming season’s unpredictability "are likely to be the spectators, who have endured one or two seasons too many of highly predictable Formula One racing" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/7).
