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| FIA in blown diffuser clampdown | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 17 2011, 04:26 PM (550 Views) | |
| u4coffee | May 17 2011, 04:26 PM Post #1 |
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Just Married
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Formula 1's competitive order at the front of the field could be thrown on its head in this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix with the FIA having made a major change to the exhaust blown diffuser regulations, AUTOSPORT has learned. With the design and execution of blown diffusers being viewed as a key area of the 2011 development race, teams have been pushing hard with their concepts to try and eek out any competitive advantage they can. One aspect that has been worked on a lot is in ensuring that a flow of exhaust gases keep pumping through the diffuser, to help increase downforce, even when the throttle is not in use. But now, on the back of some teams expending huge effort in tweaking engine modes to help gain performance in this area, the FIA has acted and decided to clamp down on what they are up to. High level sources have revealed that the FIA has written to teams informing them that from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix they will no longer be allowed to continue flowing gases through the engine when the driver is not on the throttle. It is understood the directive to the teams tells them that, under braking, the throttle input can now be no larger than 10 per cent of its maximum. Some outfits had been gaining aerodynamic benefit from keeping the throttle flow at 100 per cent under braking. To push this regulation change through, the FIA has deemed that throttle use will be allowed only for the purpose of increasing torque, not for 'aerodynamic performance'. 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. The change in regulations is set to hurt every team running a blown diffuser - although some may be hurt more than others. Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn said: "It will affect all the teams. These staccato exhausts you hear, I don't think you are going to hear them anymore. "The teams have all been developing their engine management systems to get the maximum advantage from the exhausts, and the FIA want to push us in a different direction now so there will be changes there. "I've no idea what will be the outcome there, but it has forced all the teams to have a fresh look at what they are doing in terms of engine strategies." However, with McLaren having recently hinted that it viewed off-throttle engine maps as a key to Red Bull Racing's qualifying form, the change in regulations could mean the reigning world champion team is one of the worst hit. Speaking to AUTOSPORT about the impact of the change in rules, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said: "I think that it is going to have an affect with all teams that have been utilising it. "That appears to be 90 per cent of the grid, if you look at how many teams are running blown diffusers. It is not something unique to this year, it is something that started last year, so Barcelona will clearly show what effect this will have." When asked if he thought the rules change had come about as the result of a complaint from a rival team to try and slow Red Bull Racing down, Horner said: "It is inevitable and the unfortunate consequence of success." http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91475 |
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| Rob | May 17 2011, 04:43 PM Post #2 |
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Why change mid-season? If a team finds something that lets them get a big advantage through work, innovation, and ingenuity why take it from them w/ little to no warning? I remember Norbert saying the same thing about the mass dampers in 06 and he was correct. |
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| u4coffee | May 17 2011, 04:55 PM Post #3 |
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Just Married
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Because that's what the FIA do! |
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| safc_fan89 | May 17 2011, 05:41 PM Post #4 |
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safc_fan89
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"eek out some performance"? Someone can't spell. Stupid really, especially if nearly everyone is doing it. And the teams will find a way around it so it is completely pointless. Is this what Todt's FIA is going to be known for from now on, what with trying to introduce things that nobody wants? |
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| Brave_Lee_Flea | May 17 2011, 10:19 PM Post #5 |
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Chief Engineer
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Yes he was. |
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| mbh | May 18 2011, 01:15 AM Post #6 |
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Apprentice
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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91481 Formula 1 teams have been given a reprieve to continue using blown diffusers freely from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, AUTOSPORT can reveal, after the FIA had a rethink about going ahead with a major change to the regulations. As reported earlier, the FIA issued a clarification to teams following the Turkish Grand Prix that would have banned them from using clever engine mapping settings to keep gases pumping through the diffuser even when the driver was off-throttle. Teams had been benefiting from keeping gases flowing through the diffuser at the same rate as when the driver was on throttle, even when he was fully on the brakes. This maximised the downforce benefits gained from the use of a blown diffuser. However, a directive from the FIA clarified that teams were only allowed to use the throttle settings for increasing torque, not for 'aerodynamic performance' - which effectively banned them from keeping gases pushing through the diffuser off-throttle. That edict meant teams faced work to tweak their engine settings for this weekend's race at the Circuit de Catalunya, and leading figures - including Red Bull Racing's Christian Horner and Mercedes GP's Ross Brawn - said they were unsure how the competitive order would be affected by the changes. However, following dialogue between the FIA and the teams, AUTOSPORT can reveal that the governing body decided late on Tuesday not to go through with the change to the blown diffuser regulations for Barcelona. A high level source indicated that the decision had been taken because a number of 'unforeseen and unintended consequences' of the ban had been brought to the FIA's attention. It is not clear what these consequences were, but teams that had benefited the most from the blown diffuser regulations may have complained about potential difficulties that they may have faced in making necessary changes to car set-up in such a short space of time. Although off-throttle usage of blown diffusers remains in place for now, AUTOSPORT understands that the matter has been put to the top of the agenda for the next meeting of F1 think tank, the Technical Working Group. It is understood that the FIA is keen for the off-throttle usage to be stamped out as soon as it can be implemented without causing further complications for the teams. |
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| everythingoes | May 18 2011, 06:51 AM Post #7 |
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The FIA noticed that one team was running away with the championship, hence the clampdown. Either that or they couldn't deal with the Macca whining anymore ![]()
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| Steelstallions | May 18 2011, 06:26 PM Post #8 |
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Driver
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| TheCompleteGuitarist | May 19 2011, 11:27 AM Post #9 |
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Driver
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Tell me if I am wrong, but this article seems to suggest that Mclaren as much as anyone are likely to fall foul of the rule restrictions http://planetf1.com/driver/18227/6938690/G...-impact-McLaren |
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| Rob | May 19 2011, 02:29 PM Post #10 |
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I though they scrapped their design for some reason. |
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| mbh | May 20 2011, 07:21 PM Post #11 |
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Apprentice
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It's getting interesting.... http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91554 The FIA has warned teams running with off-throttle blown diffusers at the Spanish Grand Prix that there is a risk of them being subject to a protest this weekend. Although motor racing's governing body decided to hold back on a move to immediately outlaw teams from pumping gases through their blown diffusers when drivers were off the throttle, it has not wavered from its belief that the practice is against the regulations. FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting said in a media briefing on Friday that although the governing body would not act to disqualify cars this weekend, it could not rule out a team not running such off-throttle blown diffusers - like Williams, Virgin Racing and HRT - from protesting. "It is always a possibility," said Whiting. "I've made that clear to the teams that it could happen and then we will take it to the stewards in the normal way. "We have always maintained in all of our technical directives that we have sent for many years now that this is merely the opinion of the technical department, and anyone is free to challenge it in front of the stewards. It doesn't happen very often but it has happened in the past. As you know with the brakes in Brazil, for example, in 1998. "But it can happen and I've told the teams that were pleased that we decided to postpone this introduction that it could happen." When asked if there was the chance, then, that the FIA would have to disqualify the majority of the grid, Whiting said: "I would like to think that that probably wouldn't happen, but one never knows. It is not beyond the realms of possibility. A protest is open to anybody as you know, then it will go before the stewards." Whiting said that the FIA had decided to act on off-throttle blown diffusers because it was worried about how extreme some solutions were becoming. "It became apparent to us through examination of data that what we thought was a fairly benign feature was turning into something that was being used, in our opinion, illegally," explained Whiting. "An exhaust system is there for the purpose of exhausting gases from the engine, so when you are off throttle it is not doing that – therefore driver movement is being used to influence the aerodynamic characteristics of the car. "We were becoming increasingly concerned about the increase in extremes, shall we say. Then a bit of fuel, a bit of spark, retard, it was getting more and more extreme and that was the main reason for it." He added: "These things start off little and start off appearing to be quite benign, but then they get worse and worse and worse. And we are now faced with the possibility of even more extreme systems coming along, so we felt it was time to do something about it. "Of course exhaust blowing is not new, it has been around for years, but I think Red Bull really took it to another plain with their low exhaust at the beginning of last year, and it became clearer and clearer through engine mapping that it was time to do something about it. "It got more and more and more extreme. It is by no means unusual – these things happen. It happened with brake ducts for example and aerodynamic appendages on brake ducts, and in the end you realise you have to do something about it. So, it was really not at all unusual." And amid suspicions that the FIA acted after a complaint from a team not running an off-throttle blown diffusers, Whiting said: "We often do react if a team writes to us about something. "They will ask us to circulate that correspondence in order to flush out what other teams might be doing. That was the case [in this instance], but the team concerned did not want us to divulge who it was." |
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