Exhaust blown diffusers and FIA restrictions/ban

[Giblet]

Talk of unrelated greenery here.

[Richard]

I'm intrigued about what happens when the pedal is only slightly pressed, I presume there will also be an interpretation to say a linear throttle response is required. Otherwise they would jump to the 100% map as soon as the pedal was touched.

ps - Taking corners in neutral while braking could lead to locked rear wheels.

[Ferraripilot]

I'm intrigued about what happens when the pedal is only slightly pressed, I presume there will also be an interpretation to say a linear throttle response is required.

I was thinking about that last night due to their "dangerous consequences" or however they worded it statement. If I were a team reading this new rule, I would remap engine settings to give a 100% exhaust gas yield once the throttle was depressed which was governed based on the cars encountered g-forces in a corner, unless the rule states that there is no ignition retard or fiddling of any kind allowed which I would think means the throttle would then have to be depressed in a linear fashion by the driver in the interest of not slipping off-track.

[CMSMJ1]

I find it strange that people are happy that there are throtle inputs being controlled by something other than the driver.

Surely that is wrong?

The driver should be 100% in control of all throttle inputs. The ECU controlled engine braking and the bastard offspring of blowing diffusors should be banned asap.

[BreezyRacer]

The James Allen blog has a bit of backstory on this ..
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/05/t ... clampdown/

And for what it's worth IMO McLaren have the most to lose from this change because they have limited airflow to the beam wing so any tricks they have been up to in this regard are likely to loosen up the car quite a bit. RB should be hurt the least because they have excellent airflow to the beam wing, a hallmark signature of the Newey/RB tail layout. Mercedes could also benefit up the order.

[Pup]

More likely that McLaren have a lot to lose because of their cooling situation. The car is designed with excess cooling according to Whitmarsh, and as a result can likely handle more aggressive engine maps than the Merc, possibly even Red Bull. I suspect they relish the idea of taking RB on at their own game.

Mercedes, on the other hand, could help McLaren take on RB, but at the cost of increasing the gap between McLaren and themselves. If the system were banned, however, they close up the gap both between McLaren and Red Bull, and between themselves and all the frontrunners. So a ban is a bigger win for Merc.

The problem with the ban is that the exhaust system really doesn't work without the overrun. The cars are far too unstable. Just remember how the McLaren's were all over the place when they tried to introduce their system at Silverstone last year. So I think you either do a partial ban on overrun, maybe 50% of wot, or you get rid of the blown diffusers all together.

[PlatinumZealot]

That is where the drivers come in.

[hardingfv32]

Nothing wrong with unstable. If the driver is not happy with his situation he can slow until things are within his capabilities. This is just a new set of compromises that the engineers and drivers must optimize. Let us see who does it the most timely and effective manner.

Brian

[ecapox]

The FIA had the chance to ban it for 2011 when Redbull was doing it last year. They also had the chance to ban in after the first practice in 2011. They did neither. Changing the rules midseason is unfair.

[beelsebob]

The FIA had the chance to ban it for 2011 when Redbull was doing it last year. They also had the chance to ban in after the first practice in 2011. They did neither. Changing the rules midseason is unfair.

Who is it unfair on? All the teams have to race under the same rules both before and after, I don't see any unfairness there.

[Pup]

That is where the drivers come in.

True, within a certain envelope. For my level of driving, the cars are undriveable as they are. For Hamilton, well, he was ready to go at Silverstone last year, though perhaps he was a bit optimistic. Of course, I've no idea where to draw the line. It would be nice if all the cars could complete at least one lap.

[Pup]

The FIA had the chance to ban it for 2011 when Redbull was doing it last year. They also had the chance to ban in after the first practice in 2011. They did neither. Changing the rules midseason is unfair.

Who is it unfair on? All the teams have to race under the same rules both before and after, I don't see any unfairness there.

It's unfair if one team's concept is dependent on a particular rule or interpretation. This is no different than mass dampers, tire width measurement, beryllium, etc. It's one thing if a team is skirting the rules undetected; quite another if the rule makers are aware and allow it to continue.

The FIA have known about how these exhausts work for as long as we have. At least I hope they did - if not, I have a different set of complaints. So they should have had a ruling at least the end of last season, and even if they change their minds now, they should wait until next year to change.

[WhiteBlue]

The FIA have known about how these exhausts work for as long as we have. At least I hope they did - if not, I have a different set of complaints. So they should have had a ruling at least the end of last season, and even if they change their minds now, they should wait until next year to change.

Ideally that is the best way. And we don't know how long the FiA will take to actually clamp down on it now. It will depend of the technical working group. If they recommend to delay until the end of the season it could be adopted.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/05/t ... clampdown/

James Allan thinks that rule changes for Spain have been common in the last years. Perhaps the FiA are just making noises to ensure it is in the 2012 rules to increase efficiency.

[Just_a_fan]

And for what it's worth IMO McLaren have the most to lose from this change because they have limited airflow to the beam wing

What evidence do you have of this "limited airflow"?

[PlatinumZealot]

He must have forgotten about those two gaping U channels in the side pod. lol

Then again the Mclaren beam wing is not a raised design, so maybe there is some credence to his statement...?