Formula 1 Blog wrote:Opinion on DRS‐activated F‐Duct systems
CW: We think they’re going to be legal from what we’ve seen so far.
Why some teams are querying this
CW: Some teams are questioning it on the basis that they thought F‐Ducts were banned. F‐Ducts are
not banned. At the end of 2010 everyone was using driver operated F‐Ducts. The regulations that
were changed specifically banned the use of driver movement to influence the aerodynamic
performance of the car. This got rid of that generation of F‐Ducts.
Engineers, being unable to unlearn things, wanted to get the things back via different means. They
talked about allowing the opening and closing of a duct by having interaction with suspension. We
said no, you can’t do that, because it goes to the primary purpose of the suspension system.
There was a discussion in the TWG (Technical Working Group) at the beginning of the last year to
make sure this was clear. It seems that a couple of teams went away from that meeting with the
impression that F‐Ducts were therefore banned in general.
What some teams are doing now is allowing air to pass into a duct when the DRS is operated. It’s
completely passive, there are no moving parts and it doesn’t interact with any suspension or steering
systems.
Therefore, I can’t see any rule that prohibits it.