Williams driver Felipe Massa and Marussia racer Max Chilton have both raised concerns regarding Formula One’s new team radio regulations.
The FIA have released a technical directive to clarify the new team radio rules that come into force this weekend in Singapore, but some aspects of the rules are still not overtly clear.
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.
The problems concerning Felipe Massa revolve around safety and the management of the battery aspect of the car and the knock on affect that could have on brakes.
‘…you have so many things in the car that we?re doing ? because if you don?t do [them] maybe you put too much temperature in the rear brakes because the battery gets too high and you just put fire in the car. Maybe you can have a big accident. Massa said.
?We don?t know what the temperature is for the battery, we cannot see. We don?t know that.
?There?s a very complicated power unit in the car which is not related to the driver. If you?re not using the right settings, forget it. he said.
Whilst Chilton also raised his concerns over safety and the lack of guidelines and what resulting penalties would be.
‘…being restricted in what we can be told with brakewear, if your car is just about to have serious brake problem where you will not be able to stop the car or finish, then I think the team will step in and tell you you have an issue regardless of what the penalty is? Chilton said.
?It would be great to know what the penalty is sooner rather than later because I am sure it will come into effect this weekend.?
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