no more help for the drivers

[SectorOne]

And now it´s in effect already.

The FIA confirmed on Thursday that Formula 1 teams are now banned from all forms of radio transmission that help with car or driver performance, as revealed by AUTOSPORT.

Following discussions at last week's F1 Strategy Group meeting, the FIA was asked to look into ways of limiting radio discussions as part of a push to make drivers work harder.

F1 race director Charlie Whiting has now written to teams to make it clear that there will be a dramatic cut in what teams are allowed to say from now on.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115804

Gotta give them credit for getting on it so quick and not waiting until next year.

[kooleracer]

Will the engineers still be allowed to advice on fuel consumption?

[deterherligt]

This will be soo difficult to enforce. I suspect teams are already writing codebooks to still help drivers.

Also what type of messages are now allowed? Can the pit still come with information about engine performance? Fuel consumption? Clutch bitepoint? 'Push now, hard'?

This will be a mess...

[Moxie]

And now it´s in effect already...Gotta give them credit for getting on it so quick and not waiting until next year.

While I like the rule itself, I must strongly disagree with you on this. Unless there is a life threatening safety issue, rules should not be changed in middle of the season.

[turbof1]

It's roughly like the fric debacle: the fia uses an existing catch-all rule.

However, it looked like the team unanimously agreed this, which would have allowed a rule change mid season anyway. Taking this path would have required a wmsc meeting though, resulting in a delay. Using the existing rules makes it much easier.

[SectorOne]

I think it´s fine mid-season if the teams consent to it. FRIC was more of a threat from the FIA whereas this seems to be something everyone from driver to team to FIA agreed upon.

[Phil]

you are kidding guys ..these drivers are supposed to be the cream of the crop and you think a simple hint by a race engineer enables them to drive quicker brake later or whatever?
Driving at the limit has nothing to do with a brakepoint at 200m or 195 m it has to do with using the car to the max without overdriving it...trying too hard..Sure it is helpful to actually know just where the missing tenth might be missing but as the drivers rarely have the same setup and differ in driving style it seems impossible to me that rosberg or Hamilton cannot judge the limit of adhesion going into a corner and Tony Rooss or Bonnington can tell them how it´s done.It just does not work like this. A race engineer is not a driving instructor.

I very much agree with this. Yet at the same time, there must be a reason why race engineers do talk to their drivers and give them advice. I would think drivers are well used to analyzing their track performance - seing them and their team-mates lap performance overlayed on a simple graph that shows speed, throttle, brakes and gear shifts to see where they are losing or gaining time relative to their team-mate. If an engineer tells me that I am losing time in corner X by braking too early, it tells me that perhaps the quicker way round the corner is later braking point and a later apex. At the end of the day, it's probably all just a tenth here and there, amounting to a bigger or smaller advantage.

The drivers obviously can't look at these graphs while in the race, but if an engineer can tell them exactly where the team-mate is gaining, i do think this information can be quite beneficial.

I do think it's great though that the FIA is looking ways to eliminate these messages. If I was in charge, I'd probably ban team-radio for good - that would make team-orders a lot more difficult to enforce by the team and any messages (like pit-window) would have to be communicated either by an LED on the dash or the old traditional way using a pit-board. Less radio communication == driver becomes a bigger factor. I'm all for it.

[turbof1]

I think it´s fine mid-season if the teams consent to it. FRIC was more of a threat from the FIA whereas this seems to be something everyone from driver to team to FIA agreed upon.

Yes, it's only similar in the sense how it's 'implemented'. Concerning ethics this goes a long way from the jerk move of the fric 'banishment'.

However again, nothing is stopping teams from using coded talk. For all the good intentions, this again looks like something that has more loopholes then any real useable enforcement.

I'd either ban radio communication bar a reliability issue exception, which has to be first approved by the FIA, or allow all radio communication. I personally would choose for the latter. It's part of the sport, and allows the viewer to have a better view on what's going in a cockpit.

[Shrieker]

This will be soo difficult to enforce. I suspect teams are already writing codebooks to still help drivers.

I'm thinking that won't bode well for Hamilton.

25 Peter Bonnington >> Lewis Hamilton

OK Lewis, if we go to menu magic, position one. Menu magic, position one. Menu magic, position one. There’s no rush, this is just for the pit stop.

25 Lewis Hamilton >> Peter Bonnington

I’ve never heard of that switch. Which one…

25 Peter Bonnington >> Lewis Hamilton [Interrupting] OK, don’t worry about it mate. Don’t worry about it. Just leave it.

quite embarrassing this to reduce highly paid drivers to driving monkeys excelling at following exactly the guidelines of their race engineers of how to drive...interestingly enough Hamilton seems to follow driving instructions but ignores team playing instructions....

Yerr.. Didn't exactly the opposite of what you claim happened last time round ? He was told to take it easy until the final laps, but he attacked and one way or another got into the lead.

[monsi]

A spectacularly silly idea of the FIA, to me. Badly phrased instruction that would appear to forbid necessary communication if interpreted literally. And for me hearing the snippets of communication definitely add to the fun during a race. I doubt I am the only one.

[zeph]

I have advocated this change for a few years now, but I would have liked to see it implemented differently.

My thought was to have dual one-way communcations: one from FIA Race Control to the driver, and one from the driver to pit. No comms from pit to driver.

That way, RC can inform driver of flags, SC, penalties etc. and the driver can let the pit crew know he is coming in for tires or whatever.

[langwadt]

I can't see how they will enforce this, the teams will come up with all kinds of coded massages. It is going to be a nightmare of controversies and conspiracy theories, when someone gets or doesn't get a penalty

[FrukostScones]

Vettel and Rosberg will be hit hardest. Those two spring to mind immediately when it comes to their engineers giving them advice about how to improve on track.

your completely unbiased mind

found on autosport:

Tobias Grüner F1 @tgruener (from always well informed German automotorundsport.de)

#F1 FIA race director Charlie Whiting answers urgent questions about new radio rules for Singapore.

#F1 Not allowed anymore: Info about tyres/brake condition, fuel consumption, engine maps, ERS mode, fuel mix, diff settings. #NewRadioRules

#F1 Also not allowed: formation lap instructions to prepare race start - burnouts, gearbox sync, bite point, brake/tyre temps

#F1 Still allowed are informations & instructions regarding traffic, pit stop timing and team order.

I don't think that this will work and can be policed.

[Baulz]

Can the driver be told if the engine/brakes are overheating? Tyre losing pressure?

[dans79]

Tobias Grüner F1 @tgruener (from always well informed German automotorundsport.de)

#F1 FIA race director Charlie Whiting answers urgent questions about new radio rules for Singapore.

#F1 Not allowed anymore: Info about tyres/brake condition, fuel consumption, engine maps, ERS mode, fuel mix, diff settings. #NewRadioRules

#F1 Also not allowed: formation lap instructions to prepare race start - burnouts, gearbox sync, bite point, brake/tyre temps

#F1 Still allowed are informations & instructions regarding traffic, pit stop timing and team order.

I don't think that this will work and can be policed.

things like break temperature will probably be allowed, as they are safety related issues.