TECHNICAL UPDATE
has deliberated over whether or not it can ban them. Prior to the German Grand Prix in July, the FIA’s Chief technical delegate, Charlie Whiting, answered questions on the FIA’s stance on the matter.
Blown diffusers B
Why the FIA should decide against exhaust-driven floors
lown diffusers have been a hot topic in Formula 1 since the Spanish Grand Prix, and the FIA
maps created with the primary objective of improving the aerodynamic performance of the car. Prior to that it had been assumed that any aerodynamic benefits were incidental to the primary purpose of the engine and its exhausts ie that of generating torque.
Was the investigation initiated by the FIA or did it come from an F1 team? The matter was initiated by the FIA when facts concerning some quite extreme, and hitherto unseen, engine mapping began to emerge. We were concerned that exhaust tailpipes were being positioned and engine
Why did you decide to act? Because not only did we consider such extreme mapping to be arguably illegal but also, if such freedom was left unchecked, it would result in the teams incurring significant further development costs during the course of the season.
Is the off-throttle blown diffuser illegal under the 2011 technical regulations?
We certainly consider them to be questionable. However, the key is whether or not we consider any particular engine map to have been created for any other reason than the generation of engine torque.
Is its illegality an unforeseen side effect of the rule to ban f-ducts? No, the two are unconnected.
Why was it not possible to simply introduce blanket limits on hot and cold blowing and apply them equally to every car? This is precisely what we attempted to do in the first communication to the teams on 12 May. However, it soon became apparent that the matter
was more complex than initially thought. The main problem was the difficulty in ensuring that teams were not prevented from using existing legitimate strategies, whilst ensuring that the extreme mapping was no longer possible. This is why we postponed the introduction of the measures until the British Grand Prix. There are also a number of other mechanical factors to take into account, such as the architecture of the engine throttles themselves (butterfly or barrel operation).
What measures were introduced for the European Grand Prix in Valencia? Whilst examining the engine maps from several teams it became clear that extreme
Renault’s R31 exploited the hot blown floor concept in the most extreme way, with its exhaust exits at the front of the sidepods 88
www.racecar-engineering.com • September 2011
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