Formula 1: the pinnacle of motorsports, the most advanced cars in the world, the most exciting racing anywhere. In a former life this writer was the editor of the Australian edition of F1 Racing magazine. Now he’s looking at the cars from a slightly different perspective. In terms of design, technology and speed, the new bunch of F1 cars have a lot to be desired. The BMW Sauber F1 team’s side-by-side shots of the 2008 car and the 2009 car graphically illustrate this.

The 2009 rules and regulations for Formula 1 cars are pretty complex. But put simply, huge front wings, tiny rear wings, no appendages on the body and slick tyres. This is the result (see the ’08 car on the right, the ’09 on the left). Where the 2008 car looks like something from the future, the 2009 car looks like something from the early 1990s.

FIA, the governing body of F1 has instigated these rules to slow the cars down and make it easier to pass. Passing has been a problem in F1 for a while now. The teams stuck so many aero mods on the side of the car that the air coming off the back of the car in front of you was so badly disturbed that you couldn’t pull up along side them properly to overtake with a straight the length of a runway.

Why slow the cars down? Safety. If an F1 car was built without regulation, it would be so fast that a human couldn’t possibly drive it. G-force from acceleration, deceleration and turning would be up to and over 13, meaning the driver would black out.

The 2009 Formula 1 season kicks off in Melbourne in late March.