Charlie Whiting has admitted F1′s governing body will likely have to change the exhaust rules yet again for 2013.

Led by technical delegate Whiting, the FIA clamped down hard for this season on the sort of ‘exhaust blown diffuser’ layouts that had become widespread last year.

New exhaust layout rules, combined with new restrictions on engine mapping, have made it much more difficult for teams to achieve an aerodynamic effect from the fast-moving hot gases produced by the engine.

“We are aware, however, that they (the teams) will do as much as they can to direct the exhaust gases down into the area where they want them,” Whiting said in the FIA’s Inmotion magazine.

“I think (the effect) will be 20 per cent of what they had before.”

Among the cleverest and most effective solutions for the 2012 rules has been seen on the Sauber, and so Red Bull has followed suit and it is believed Ferrari will be next.

But Whiting hinted that the 2013 rules will clamp down even harder: “I suspect we’ll have to have another go at it in 2013,” said the Briton.

He admitted, however, that the egg cannot be unscrambled.

Referring to the jet of high-speed gas emanating from the exhausts near aerodynamic surfaces, Mercedes’ Aldo Costa confirmed to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “You can’t ignore a gift like that.”

Whiting explained: “It is a classic case of not being able to unlearn things once they have been invented. The engineers know that there are benefits to be had and there is still some scope for development in this area.

“And we can’t wipe the memories of the engineers like a computer, can we?”

At least for now, the overtaking innovation ‘DRS’ is here to stay.
“It will stay as long as it’s in the regulations,” smiled the FIA’s Charlie Whiting in Melbourne, indicating it is a certainty for 2013 and 2014.

The concept debuted last year, replacing the driver-operated F-ducts with a standard rear wing flap that can be adjusted by chasing drivers in the midst of battle during grands prix.

Whiting said there are changes for 2012, to better balance the ease or difficulty of passing based on the experience of last year.

“For example, here (in Australia) there is a second zone, and in China and Belgium the zones will be shortened.

“Barcelona is lengthened by 50 metres and Canada there will be no second zone, same with Valencia,” he is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo.

“In Monza the zones will be longer, while for most of the other circuits we are satisfied.”

 HRT has confirmed that its 2012 car, the F112, will finally make its track debut on Monday.
Recently, the FIA barred Red Bull and Ferrari from tweaking their test schedules so that their Barcelona running could end on Monday.

But struggling backmarker HRT asked its rivals for special permission, given it had yet to use its separate allowed test day for ‘filming and promotional’ purposes.

Actually, the Cosworth-powered HRT is also being launched, debuted and shaken down, after a failed FIA crash test delayed progress for a team already recovering from a change of ownership and the exit of boss Colin Kolles.

A report in the German press said HRT has been focused not only on the ‘step nose’ 2012 car, but also buying up all the infrastructure needed for a new F1 team — like pitstop wheel guns at EUR 4000 apiece.

The team said Narain Karthikeyan will do the driving at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday, with Pedro de la Rosa and reserve Dani Clos also on hand.

EFE news agency quotes de la Rosa as admitting the first six months this year will be “very hard” for HRT.

Other Spanish reports said the F112 was finally fired up in the factory on Sunday.

“I’m very happy,” said de la Rosa, “but also I know how much work is ahead, because we are two months late and we are starting with virtually no preseason.”

Referring to Monday’s shakedown, he added: “It’s better than nothing and, for us, it’s almost a victory,” de la Rosa is quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

 The latest twist in F1′s endless ‘blown diffuser’ saga was reportedly triggered by Mercedes.
Amid last week’s Barcelona test, it was rumoured that Mercedes and Renault-powered teams would have to make tweaks, after a loophole was discovered in the standard electronics software.

For 2012, the FIA has clamped down on engine exhaust blowing for aerodynamic purposes, but speculation continued to sweep the paddock that some teams had devised ways to minimise the impact of the ban.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that it was Mercedes engineers who found the loophole, in terms of how to utilise the standard electronic software to maximise the off-throttle exhaust blowing effect.

“The FIA has responded by rewriting the software,” read the report.

Auto Motor und Sport said Mercedes was right about the loophole, but that it could only have been exploited at the price of dramatic fuel consumption, and potential damage to the engine.

“We have erred on the safe side,” an FIA source is quoted as saying.

Writing in Spain’s Mundo Deportivo, Raymond Blacafort said the 2012 Red Bull’s exhaust was making a strange sound in the chicane in Barcelona last week.

The precise pecking-order is clouded, but one thing is clear: 2012 looks set to be a highly competitive season in formula one.
“There are a lot of cars out there that look competitive,” said McLaren’s Jenson Button, on the day Williams’ Pastor Maldonado set the quickest time in the midst of the second group test in Barcelona.

Earlier this week, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was the pacesetter, causing Mercedes’ Norbert Haug to tell Bild newspaper: “That’s great.”

“I didn’t expect that,” agreed world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hulkenberg smiled: “‘Test champion’ gives me nothing. But I am in good shape.”

Vettel continued to Kleine Zeitung newspaper: “This year everything is closer together”, he said, after his teammate Mark Webber admitted there is “no question” Red Bull needs to keep working on the pace of its new RB8.

According to Die Welt newspaper, Vettel continued: “Most of the competitors are difficult to assess. It’s the same old game.”

He is referring to unknown fuel levels, tyre age and differing approaches and programmes — and teams’ deliberate sandbagging or ‘show-run’ efforts.

“I never paid too much attention to direct comparisons on headline laptimes,” insisted David Coulthard, “but on the longer runs you can start to build a picture.”

Williams engineer Mark Gillan told Auto Motor und Sport: “It seems as though the entire field has moved much closer together. It will be a tough fight.”

An early assessment of the pecking order might have Red Bull and McLaren at the front, and Mercedes and Lotus possibly ready to join the fight.

“It looks like Red Bull are fairly stable,” Coulthard agreed to Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency, “(and) McLaren and Mercedes maybe closer than they were.

“Ferrari is a bit of an unknown but I wouldn’t write them off. Let’s be patient, another three weeks of tweaking and then we’ll find out,” said the former McLaren and Red Bull driver.

Team Lotus claimed victory in the court dispute, but the Tony Fernandes-led outfit might have to change its name for 2012 and beyond.
That is the claim of Bernie Ecclestone, after the London High Court declared a complex verdict in the name dispute brought by Malaysian-owned British carmaker Group Lotus.

After the latter claimed victory, Team Lotus issued a second media statement clarifying that it can use “the Team Lotus name and roundel (logo) … in relation to formula one racing”.

But with Renault sponsor Group Lotus also cleared to continue deploying the famous name in F1, Ecclestone suggested that Team Lotus might have to undergo a slight identity switch next year.

His comments tie in with a reference by Team Lotus in its first press statement on Friday to “the Caterham Team Lotus umbrella”; a reference to Fernandes’ recent acquisition of the specialty British sports car maker.

Ecclestone told Blick: “Fernandes can keep the name Team Lotus. However, his cars may not be called Lotus.

“In the registration for the world championship, the team (name) comes first, then the car.

“Strictly speaking Fernandes would have to sign up as Team Lotus and something,” added the F1 chief executive to the Swiss newspaper.

Sauber is not yet officially confirming its new team name for the 2011 season.

This year, despite the German carmaker pulling out of formula one before the 2010 season, the Hinwil based team was still known as ‘BMW Sauber F1 Team’.

Former owner Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) agreed to let Sauber keep the acronym in its official title in order to not jeopardise the team’s commercial income due to finishing the 2009 constructors’ championship in sixth place.

But a name change for 2011 will not jeopardise Sauber’s income, due to its fellow teams and the governing FIA agreeing in June to permit the tweak ahead of the next world championship season.

Sauber’s current press releases are issued in the name of its Swiss company Sauber Motorsport AG, but it is believed that in 2011 the official team title will be ‘Sauber F1 Team’.

A team spokesman said this week: “We will communicate the name in due time.”

The team’s managing director Monisha Kaltenborn is quoted by Basler Zeitung: “We have the (F1) Commission’s approval to delete BMW from our name after the end of the (2010) season.”

The report said the final name is not yet published because it might include a new title sponsor that has not been announced.

There is a chance the 2011 calendar could be tweaked to reinstate Abu Dhabi as the scene of next year’s championship finale.

The magnificent Yas Marina venue has concluded the F1 schedule for the past two seasons, but its third event is scheduled for 13 November 2011 — two weeks before the finale in Brazil.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said he has “never understood” why organisers want to host the last race but did not rule out making the switch to please Abu Dhabi.

“It is a big risk being the last race of the championship, because you just don’t know how it will unfold — it could have all happened in Brazil,” said the Briton, referring to last week’s penultimate race at Interlagos.

When asked whether Abu Dhabi could be reinstated as the last race for 2011, Ecclestone answered: “We’ll see. It’s not scheduled to be, but whether we can change it or not … let’s have a look and see.”

F1′s safety car rules have been tweaked in the wake of the Valencia controversy.

The 12 teams met at Silverstone ahead of the British grand prix to discuss the incidents that so enraged Ferrari and its supporters.

The rule tweak, agreed between the teams and race director Charlie Whiting, addresses Ferrari’s complaint that Fernando Alonso was disadvantaged by following the rules and not overtaking the safety car on the Spanish street circuit.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, received a drive-through penalty for overtaking the safety car that was applied so late he was still able to finish the race in second place.

The result of the Silverstone meeting is that the safety car rules remain effectively the same, despite some pressure to see the pits closed when the safety car is circulating.

Instead, it has been agreed that drivers who are not being slowed by the safety car will have to drive on track at the same speed as the Bernd Maylander-driven Mercedes gullwing.

Previously, drivers not being immediately slowed by the safety car during the safety car period only had to keep within 120 per cent of a flying laptime.

In Valencia, the rule tweak would have meant Hamilton would not only have been penalised for overtaking the safety car, but also not able to negate the drive-through by driving around the track any faster than Maylander.

In the meeting, Whiting also promised the teams that efforts will be made to issue penalties like Hamilton’s faster in the future.

In Valencia, Hamilton’s penalty was delayed because the race director did not request the steward investigation until after the Mark Webber crash was dealt with.

But in future, potential penalties will be passed immediately to the attention of the stewards, while the race director can continue to focus on a Webber-like incident.

Moreover, because the arrival of crucial evidence about the Hamilton incident also slowed down the in-race investigation, there will now be cameras constantly monitoring the safety car lines 1 and 2.

There will also be trackside markings that show the location of the safety car lines, so that a driver cannot argue he did not notice the lines from his driving position.

Stefano Domenicali insists he has “no problem” with moves to clarify F1′s ban on in-season testing.

But the Ferrari team boss expressed anger that concerns about the Italian team’s pre-Valencia running at Fiorano had been aired by his rivals in the media.

Christian Horner said in Valencia that using a filming and promotional day to test the updated F10 had been “naughty” and breached the “spirit” of the agreement.

And when also asked about Ferrari’s testing, FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh said McLaren would do the “correct and honourable thing” by using one of the team’s aerodynamic days to try updates on the MP4-25 prior to Silverstone.

“I think that a lot of people like to speak,” Domenicali told reporters in Valencia.

“If I have any problem I take my mobile phone and I call personally.  This is my style, I don’t use (the press) to say something.

“If people want to be more comfortable then I know there are discussions in order to tidy up the wording, and I have no problem with that,” added the Italian.

(GMM)

Cosworth is tweaking the design of its formula one engine in order to accommodate KERS systems in 2011.

Although already permitted by the technical regulations, the teams voluntarily agreed to not use the energy-recovery technology this season.

But for 2011, the FOTA ban will lapse, and teams currently powered by Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault have indicated they will fit KERS systems to their cars.

Williams has also indicated it will run KERS in 2011, and as well as the British team, Northampton based Cosworth also currently powers Lotus, Virgin and HRT.

“We have to make several new configurations to our V8 and also change some of the accessories,” Cosworth’s business director Mark Gallagher is quoted by Autosprint’s Italian-language auto.it.

He confirmed: “Our partners will be able to use KERS if they so choose.”

(GMM)

With F1′s points system of 2009, Fernando Alonso would currently be the world championship leader.

Before this season began, the FIA tweaked the points system so that two extra finishers per race score points, while the points gap between the winner and second place was widened.

But under last year’s system, Alonso would currently be leading Jenson Button by a single point, according to an analysis by Spain’s Diario AS.

Instead, Button – who has won 2 races compared with the more consistently-competitive Alonso’s single victory in Bahrain – is leading the Spaniard by three points.

Briton Button told the Spanish sports newspaper that when he moved from Brawn to McLaren for 2010, he did not expect to be leading the world championship after five races.

“For the first five races my goal was to feel at home and adapt to the car,” said the reigning world champion.

“Leading the championship at the moment is a great feeling, but it’s only the beginning.  There’s a long way to go in a championship that is going to be very challenging and close,” added Button.

(GMM)

A written plea by McLaren did not convince the British team’s rivals that controversial ‘F-duct’ innovations should be allowed to stay in F1 in 2011.

During a team meeting last weekend in Barcelona, a majority of the bosses voted for a rule tweak that will outlaw the controversial downforce-stalling solutions for next year.

After McLaren invented the straightline speed boosting concept this season, teams including Sauber, Ferrari, Williams and Mercedes have experimented with their own versions.

It is also believed that Red Bull, Renault and Force India are working on the concept at their respective factories.

But Red Bull’s Christian Horner indicated that the vote against F-ducts for 2011 was influenced by the marginal safety of the systems seen in Spain last weekend.

Both the Sauber and Ferrari drivers were activating the airflow with one of their hands, often out of high speed corners like Barcelona’s turn 3, while simultaneously fidgeting with other controls including brake balance.

“It’s a clever piece of engineering and hats off to the guys who invented it, but some of the solutions this weekend look a little bit marginal when you see drivers driving with no hands basically,” Horner is quoted as saying by the BBC.

“So I think there is a safety issue and a cost issue to take into account,” he added.

(GMM)

Ferrari will tweak its F-duct system so that it is more “comfortable” for the drivers, Fernando Alonso has revealed.

On Saturday he played down suggestions the Italian team’s blown rear wing solution is dangerous because it is activated by the drivers’ left hand.

But he told France’s Auto Hebdo: “In the simulator we practiced with this method so that now it is automatic.

“But in the future we will find a more comfortable solution for the drivers,” added Alonso.

(GMM)  Ferrari’s proposed tweaks to its F1 engine design were approved by the FIA ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

We reported last month that, after several engine problems for both the works team and its customer Sauber so far in 2010, the Italian team would ask permission to work on the design on the grounds of reliability.

It has been rumoured that the main problem was isolated to the area of the pneumatic valves and air consumption, with the remedy qualifying for an exemption from the engine development ‘freeze’.

Ferrari confirmed on Tuesday that it “requested and received authorisation from the FIA to make some changes within the framework of the current engine regulations and these modifications will be fitted to the engines to be used in Spain”.

Looking ahead to his home race in Barcelona this weekend, Ferrari-powered Pedro de la Rosa told Spain’s El Pais that he was confident the Maranello based marque was on top of the situation.

“I’m not worried at all, they’re going to fix it,” said the Sauber driver.