The other boards are all aflutter over this article in germany's TZ:
http://www.tz-online.de/sport/formel1/s ... 11550.html
Not my translation...
Dark clouds gathering before the formula 1-opening race in Melbourne on 18 March. Are the current tests in Barcelona meaningless? The reason, as the tz learned: The top FIA rule guardian, Charlie Whiting, is planning a reset before the start of the season. He wants to ban "engine mappings" (engine software) which all cars have that use Renault-and Mercedes engines.
Both engines would use a program which would not correspond to the regulations, it is said. Whiting would not accept the loopholes discovered by the teams after the abolition of the blown diffuser. Which means, in the opinion of Whiting, Renault and Mercedes would have found a way to continue to supply the diffuser with exhaust gases with the help of the motor settings and specially designed exhaust at the rear end of the car, although the driver is off the throttle - and therefore to ensure much more stability.
In an interview with the trade magazine Auto Bild Motorsport, Renault Managing Director Jean-François Caubet had already fueled those suspicion. "Even though the rules have changed, we found a solution together with Red Bull, to compensate for the loss of performance." "It's not the same, but a clever development that can make the crucial difference."
With Red Bull, Williams, Lotus, and Caterham four Renault teams are affected by the possible ban, and with Mercedes GP, McLaren, and Force India three Mercedes-supplied teams. With world champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault), Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher (both Mercedes GP), and Nico Hülkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) four of the five German pilots are also affected. Exception: Timo Glock drives a Cosworth engine with his Marussia team.
Whiting will soon inform the technical directors of the affected teams and lay out his ban in a special conference in early March. How the ban will be reflected in the performance of the cars is still open. At worst, all concerned teams would have to change their exhaust system, which could turn the basic concept of a car on its head and could cause a significant loss of lap time.
As the tz learned, Ferrari is said to have drawn Whiting's attention to the special systems of their competition. One thing is clear: Ferrari could use a little help from the FIA, because the F2012 proved to be a "rolling construction site" at the first test drives. The Italian engineers still don't understand their car. The four days of the first test at Jerez were therefore spent by the Italians to collect data.
In Barcelona, they continue to look for errors in the car systems. At least they know now that the problem lies in the aerodynamics. Their pits look like the Lego parts box of the neighbor's kid. Ferrari is experimenting with different engine covers, exhaust solutions, diffuser variants, and deflectors. So far without result. A weakening of the competition could make their own chaos at least smaller.
Ralf Bach
