Exhaust blown diffusers and FIA restrictions/ban

[bcoxa]

I thought mid season rules changes required approval from FOTA?

[HampusA]

Could anyone explain this?

"This effectively means that any team found to be using off-throttle blown diffusers could be in breach of the famous Article 3.15 of the technical regulations that outlaws moveable aerodynamic devices. - Autosport.com"

What moveable aerodynamic device are they talking about at the rear of the car?

[NormalChris]

If this is true, which it seems to be I dont know if I can follow this sport with as much enthusiasm anymore.

[Rob01]

Similar to the fduct. It moved air over the rear wing. The engine mode/mapping keeps air over the diffuser to create downforce. It allows the air under braking to remain constant. The fduct was operated by the driver. The EBD is being control by engine mapping. I guess they consider that moveable aero.

[ecapox]

Similar to the fduct. It moved air over the rear wing. The engine mode/mapping keeps air over the diffuser to create downforce. It allows the air under braking to remain constant. The fduct was operated by the driver. The EBD is being control by engine mapping. I guess they consider that moveable aero.

But according to the FIA rules, the FDuct is still an option. It was FOTA who agreed to not use it.

[HampusA]

It just keeps getting better, they can see an engine mapping as moveable aerodynamic devices but not the RBR/Mclaren front wings as bridging the gap?

Sorry but they seriously must have some severe mental problems at FIA.

[PhillipM]

That's a pretty mad ruling given a few of this seasons cars are built around the entire concept, that's gonna cost some huge cash in re-development for some teams right in the middle of the season.
Mental.

[ecapox]

It just keeps getting better, they can see an engine mapping as moveable aerodynamic devices but not the RBR/Mclaren front wings as bridging the gap?

Sorry but they seriously must have some severe mental problems at FIA.

This.

[rfs]

If this is true, which it seems to be I dont know if I can follow this sport with as much enthusiasm anymore.

But they've done this sort of thing before. Like in 2003 with the tyre rule change, and 2006 with the mass damper being banned.

On the other hand, they didn't ban the double diffuser in 2009, or the F-Duct and flexi-wing in 2010.

[Rob01]

FOTA felt it(fduct) was moveable aero. Which it was. Maybe FOTA is the group that brought the EBD use to further light after the front wing was rejected. I think the EBD was how Red Bull was able to corner better than the other teams as the rate of exhaust/air over the diffuser was kept higher than those without it. Either way I think it was a way to slow the Bulls. Which in my opinion is a Nascar option of leveling the playing field.

[ecapox]

If it was to slow the Redbulls, that is garbage. You cant penalize a team because they thought of something more clever than you...seeing as it isnt against the rules.

[Just_a_fan]

This thens begs the following question in my mind:

Where does the allowed 10% get measured from?

To expand, drivers have for many years used the throttle in combination with the brakes to balance the car through the cornering phase (I don't mean in the Fangio/Clark/Stewart-era way of balancing the car on the throttle). It's something that arrived with the drivers who grew up on karts.

If a driver uses the throttle pedal to command an 11% throttle application during the cornering phase, will he be considered in breach of the new ruling? Or does the 10% limit apply only to that which the engine map applies without driver involvement?

I assume it's the latter.

I shall be interested to see whether Vettel and Webber are closer together this weekend - ISTR that Webber had an advantage in this regard last year until the throttle map was sorted out in a way that Vettel liked.

Interesting times...

[Giblet]

Maybe the engine is a moveable aerodynamic device now, just like a sprung mass was for Renault.

[Rob01]

The ECU measures the 10 percent.

[Just_a_fan]

If it was to slow the Redbulls, that is garbage. You cant penalize a team because they thought of something more clever than you...seeing as it isnt against the rules.

It wasn't against the rules. The FIA are saying that it is against the rules from now on.

The f-duct was banned (by FOTA). No different really. Newey himself says that it was very clever and he wished that he'd thought of it.

It's the F1 merry-go-round and F1 wouldn't be the same without it. Hell, I sometimes wonder if I only watch the sport to see what the FIA will dream up next...