engine mapping banned from now on

Formula 1 teams are to face a further clampdown on engine mapping use from this weekend's European Grand Prix, AUTOSPORT has learned, with the FIA moving to eradicate special qualifying-only settings

Ahead of the effective ban on the off-throttle use of blown diffusers from next month's British Grand Prix, motor racing's governing body has shown it is determined to prevent teams from using any form of clever engine use to help aerodynamic performance.

In a note sent from F1 technical delegate Charlie Whiting to the teams, he made it clear that with immediate effect teams will no longer be allowed to change engine maps between qualifying and the race.

Such a move will effectively prevent teams from running an extreme engine map for qualifying - such as one that produces more exhaust blowing or burns more fuel – and then reverting to a safer setting for the grand prix itself.

One theory surrounding Red Bull Racing's qualifying dominance this year, compared to the fact it has not been so fast in the race, is that the team has been using extreme engine maps in qualifying to boost performance for a single lap.

McLaren's principal race engineer Phil Prew said about his team's theory on Red Bull Racing's form earlier this year: "I think tyre optimisation may be one area, and the use of elaborate engine modes may be another - with the generation of downforce being quite highly influenced with the exhaust flows."

The new directive from the FIA means that any engine mapping setting used in qualifying has to now be used for the start of the race – with the first opportunity to change it now only possible at the first pitstop when a computer could in theory be plugged into the car.

However, such a move would be hugely impractical because of the speed of modern pitstops.

The extreme engine maps that some teams may be using for qualifying would be unusable in the race – because they risk reliability of engines over longer distances and could burn too much fuel.

Although the changes to the regulations coming into force over the next two races will affect all teams, the main focus will be in terms of what impact it has on pace-setters Red Bull Racing.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said at the Canadian Grand Prix that he believed Silverstone could mark the start of a totally new picture in terms of the world title fight.

"We need to see in Silverstone, what is the real effect of this change in the regulations with regard to the effect of the exhaust," he said.

"Then, we will see really where is the second championship in terms of the level of performance above all in higher downforce tracks."


this weekend's qualifying shall be very interesting with red bull not being able to use that in qualifying surely they won't attempt to use it during the race

source : autosport
link : http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92494

all these things being banned half way thru a season is an absolute joke. there being banned mainly because red bull gain the most out of the technology, yet its too late and vettel has won the title. FIA should be ashamed of themselves.

Why don't they just ban all electronics apart from the ecu, go back to a stick shift and steel brakes.

Well, well well. Why did they wait this long to address this issue? Vettel's basically done enough to be World Champion already. All he needs to do is keep finishing on the podium and he will be a double world champion. Just goes to show the massive performance advantage the Red Bull car has over the field.

I just do not understand why these changes could not have been implemented earlier. We would have had a far more entertaining championship.

All we can hope for is for Vettel to have a couple of DNFs. Barring that, it's over already

Exactly Belgarion!

Though it does depend how the RB car reacts to these changes. It may not be half as good as it is now, so podium finishes could be a real challenge, but its all unknowns at the mo. It would be cool if the rest of the field could make a come back.

Jenson Button says he CAN take the title lol so im in no doubt he'll win it (note saracasm)

Mate, everyone, Button included knows he can't win the title. To win the title he has to be consistent and win races regularly in the dry, not in changeable conditions. His drive in Canada was excellent, but Vettel threw the win away. If he had stayed on track, Button wouldn't have overtaken him.

The only people that can take the fight to Vettel are Hamilton and Alonso. Hamilton needs to play the percentage game and grab as many points as possible to threaten, and Alonso is too far back to do anything about the championship.

I hope the changes affect the red bull car and make it uncompetitive for 3-4 races prior to Newey finding a solution or the title's over already. I would also like it if they looked at that flexi-wing as well.

A world championship decided before December. Ridiculous.

As I said in the off-throttle diffuser thread, this smacks of panic on the part of the FIA, after seeing how dominant Red Bull have been up until the last couple of races.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with what Red Bull have been doing and am surprised the other teams weren't making more of an effort to catch up and develop their own systems. Maybe they have been and it just hasn't been working.

However, the powers that be have spoken, so there we are.

I am happy that these changes will probably make future races (and quali) a lot closer and we'll see more drivers competing for wins and podiums.


@Big Paul: as I understand it, you can't use manual gearboxes with F1 engines, as the gear changes need to be made quicker than a stick-shift could manage (due to the speed of the rev changes). Also, steel brakes would melt after just a few laps.

While its too early to say with any certainty what effects these changes will have, it seems they were implemented with a view to reining in Red Bull, so its a fair bet they will lose out the most.

Its still mathematically possible for any driver in the top 5 to win the title and if the changes have as much of an effect on Red Bull as we think, its entirely possible the championship standings will look very different after another 4-5 races.

Lets see if all these things can stop Red Bull or not.

what are peoples thoughts on Vettles times in first practice using their silverstone race spec?

nathan wrote:what are peoples thoughts on Vettles times in first practice using their silverstone race spec?

it wasn't great but im sure their have it sorted by then

Vettel already has this season wrapped up so it's ridiculous to have the bring it now. They should have noticed it was giving him the advantage after a couple of races and addressed it then. Like it was said in a previous post, we would have gotten a much more entertaining season had they done so.

im not fussed as long as its entertaining

does this mean the end of fuel saving mode?

I wouldn't have thought so. The engine mapping issue seemed to be to do with specific settings for qualifying. I think the FIA felt it was another area in which Red Bull seemed to have an advantage over the other teams.

If they do away with fuel-saving mode as well, a few teams are going to have to rethink their fuel strategies.