The FIA have released a technical directive to clarify the new team radio rules that come into force this weekend in Singapore.
Formula One heads into the Singapore Grand Prix with a change in regulations regarding the use of team radio.
Formula One is not opposed to changed the rules during a season.
In 2014 we’ve already had a ban on FRIC [Front-and-Rear Interconnected Suspension systems] and now we have a ban on some team to driver radio messages.
The team radio is used for everything, from giving information about the gap to another driver, when to make a pit-stop, team orders, right through to detailed telemetry information regarding how another driver is faster in a particular sector of a lap and even drivers given detailed instructions on how to drive the car better.
Just one example of this was Felipe Massa in Monza, with Williams telling the Brazilian that at some points of the lap he was pressing both the accelerator and brake pedals.
Whilst some will argue that Formula One is a team sport and so the technology within the team should be transferred to the driver, others argue that they do not want to see the supposed elite drivers in the world have their hand held around the lap.
The telemetry information has enabled a drivers race engineer to tell them what settings to change in the car, when to brake, when to accelerate, what line to take in a corner, all the things that the traditionalist racers would argue should come naturally to a racing driver.
So a ban has been put in place, or at least a racing directive thanks to article 20.1 which states ?the driver must drive the car alone and unaided’ and this has come straight from FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting so the teams will have to take notice.
To make things clear the FIA have released a list of points that can be discussed over team radio and a list of points that cannot be mentioned, even in code.
According to Sky Sports there are:
Messages that will still be allowed:
– Acknowledgement that a driver message has been heard.
– A competitor?s lap time.
– Their own lap and sector time.
– Gaps to a competitor during a practice session or race.
– Information about a competitor’s likely race strategy.
– Tyre choice at next pitstop.
– Front-wing adjustment at their next pitstop.
– The number of laps a competitor has done on a set of tyres during a race.
– A competitor?s tyre compound.
– Being told to increase their pace (E.g. ?Push hard? or ?push now?).
– Who they are likely to be racing (E.g. ?You will be racing XX?).
– Warning of a puncture.
– Information on yellow and blue flags.
– Safety Car deployment.
– Problems with a competitor?s car.
– Team orders.
– Laps remaining.
– Help with finding a gap in qualifying.
– DRS enabled and disabled notifications.
– Infractions by team, driver or competitor (E.g. running off track, missing a chicane, time penalty).
– Track information (E.g. Wet track, oil or debris at certain corners).
– Damage to the car.
– Reminders to check for white lines leaving and entering pits and weighbridge lights.
– Weather information.
– Test information (Eg. Set speed runs for aero-mapping).
– When to pit.
Messages that are banned:
– Sector time detail of a competitor and where they are faster or slower.
– Adjustment of powerunit settings.
– Answering a driver?s direction question (E.g. ‘Am I using the right torque map?’).
– Level of fuel saving needed.
– Any message that appears to be coded.
– Information on tyre temperatures and pressures (from Japan onwards).
– Balancing the SOC (state of battery charge) or adjusting it for performance.
– Number of burn-outs required prior the race.
– Warning of brake-wear or temperatures (from Japan onwards).
– Learning of gears from gearbox (from Japan onwards).
– Start maps related to clutch position, for race start and pit stops.
– Information on clutch maps or settings (E.g. bite point).
– Brake balance and brake-by-wire information.
– Adjustment of gearbox settings.
– Information on fuel flow settings (unless requested to do so by Race Control).
– Adjustment of powerunit settings to de-rate system.
– Selection of driver default settings (unless there is a clearly identified problem with the car).
– Information on differential settings.
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