Heidfeld downshift behaviour

[vis]

Watching last Bahrein Grand Prix I noticed (via on-board camera) that Heidfeld was very "gentle" on his BMW gearbox when downshifting (he did not pass from 7th to 2nd with 5 instantaneous blips of the left paddle, he let some moment between each downshift, letting the revs go down).

I think this is due to the still present fragility of the new seamless gearbox.

Anyone did notice this?

[joseff]

Correct me if I'm wrong and the 2007 regs are different, but IIRC the ECU has built-in "veto" power over each gearshift. So a driver can simply flick down 5 times, and the ECU will shift down whenever the engine/gearbox can take the abuse.

[peroa]

IIRC that is not possible anymore since 2004 or 2005.

I would have to look in the FIA technical regulations but there is a certain time that musn`t be exceeded between operating the paddle and the actual shift.

[PNSD]

IIRC that is not possible anymore since 2004 or 2005.

I would have to look in the FIA technical regulations but there is a certain time that musn`t be exceeded between operating the paddle and the actual shift.

I noticed JB's imola pole lap he downshifted every gear normaly hmm.

[joseff]

Look it up, it's article 9. It doesn't even say anything about gearshift time anymore. I remember the older regs mentioned max/min shift time.

Actually, article 9 doesn't even say "automatic transmissions are forbidden"