Blown diffusers banned... (Discuss)

[cruyff]

For 2012 the FIA has effectively banned blown diffusers by placing new restrictions on the positioning of exhaust exits. These can no longer be on the floor immediately ahead of the diffuser, but must instead be further forward and higher. Furthermore, the final section of the exhaust pipe (one each side of the car) must be straight and completely round in section, with no internal divisions.

Personally, I did not really care a lot about the blown diffusers. Although I don't hate Red Bull, I think everybody wants closer racing for the next season. What disgusts me is the way the FIA have literally punished the genius of many great scientists and mechanics over and over again since ground effect was banned (maybe earlier, I don't know). Let me refresh your memory. Fewer tests, the Q3 penalty, DRS, the F-ducts and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that Rubens Barrichello still holds the world lap time record of the Italian Gran Prix (1:21, 2004).

Now, obviously, I do not expect everyone to aggree with me. What I do want, is that we have a civilized conversation about this serious matter.

So... what do you think?

 

[Chris Jenkins]

I don't want to sound mean, but this is very old news.

 

[UMC 22]

I don't see any issue here. Teams push the limits as they are perfectly entitled to do, they create conditions which make it harder for others to compete, and so the FIA come up with new regulations to help level the playing field. What's wrong with that? If you really want to be a great mechanic/scientist without restriction, then motorsports is not for you.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Personally I like rule changes for the same reason as Ross pointed out. If it levels the competition between the cars its a good thing. But recent years have seen one dominant team (Brawn first followed by RBR) taking too much advantage by their implementation of the rules.

Wouldn't it be better if all teams got the exact same chassis to start with that they can modify at will during the season?

 

[Chris Butcher]

Would you rather have a sport where one team wins every time?

 

[Kevin Cordice]

All teams will look for an advantage over each other that is human nature, but as for the craftsmen of there trade at time a could s$#k i guess that can be frustrating

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Keeping a balance of high-tech and speed is a very fine line and i would not like to be one of the guys writing the rulebook...

Besides, the exhaust blown diffuser is not exactly what F1 needs seeing as they have taken on this green image.
It basically went against the goal that F1 has by letting the car spew out even more gas.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Wouldn't it be better if all teams got the exact same chassis to start with that they can modify at will during the season?

It would not be the same It wouldn´t be a Ferrari or Mclaren.
That is one of the beauties of the sport. 2 camps get a rulebook, they build their own car completely from scratch and then they are fighting for thousands of a second in qual sessions

The problem is when teams find massive loopholes like DoubleDiffuser. It ruined what would have been a good season imo.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Thats very true, but obviously that doesn't count for engines. How many teams are running a car with a Mercedes, Renault or Ferrari engine?

 

[cruyff]

Would you rather have a sport where one team wins every time?

It's one thing trying to provide close racing, which I think is what almost everybody wants, but it's another thing making F1 go backwards in the process.

To me F1 has always been about finding the absolute limit and then going there as often as possible. These regulations take away half the fun for me.

Oh, and something else. If they really did everything just to sell a "green" image or to improve safety, why can't the race leader use DRS? It's these things that really show what a talented driver Vettel is, just like Michael Schumacher in 2003 and 2004. (I'm no fan of either, just proving a point)

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Thats very true, but obviously that doesn't count for engines. How many teams are running a car with a Mercedes, Renault or Ferrari engine?

6 mercedes powered cars.
6 ferrari powered cars.
8 renault powered cars.
Counting for next year, not sure if i got all of them.

That's 20 cars out of 24. Pretty good number.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

It's one thing trying to provide close racing, which I think is what almost everybody wants, but it's another thing making F1 go backwards in the process.

To me F1 has always been about finding the absolute limit and then going there as often as possible. These regulations take away half the fun for me.

Oh, and something else. If they really did everything just to sell a "green" image or to improve safety, why can't the race leader use DRS? It's these things that really show what a talented driver Vettel is, just like Michael Schumacher in 2003 and 2004. (I'm no fan of either, just proving a point)

? race leader can use DRS..

You simply cant ignore the cars they had. Both had the most dominant cars in their respective era.
You can't win championships without the best car..

 

[cruyff]

What I was meaning is that in both cases the regulations tried to destroy the dominant team, and yet they made it. I think Vettel only used DRS to overtake 1 time. Yet he won most races and the WDC. Yes, he had the dominant car, but almost everyone was against him and RBR.

And something else:
http://www.racedepartment.com/2012/01/fia-bans-reactive-ride-height-system-for-2012-2/
I don't even know why they did that.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

What I was meaning is that in both cases the regulations tried to destroy the dominant team, and yet they made it. I think Vettel only used DRS to overtake 1 time. Yet he won most races and the WDC. Yes, he had the dominant car, but almost everyone was against him and RBR.

And something else:
http://www.racedepartment.com/2012/01/fia-bans-reactive-ride-height-system-for-2012-2/
I don't even know why they did that.

Not true. Vettel used his DRS every single time ha closed up on a lapped car in the DRS zone.
And he has used it several times when he´s not at the front.

He won the WDC because he´s a good driver but also because he has the most dominant car in recent history.
The reason the blown diffuser was banned was because it goes against the green image F1 wants.

They are trying to cut down on fuel so it does not make any sense to have a feature legal that does nothing but increases the fuel economy of the cars.

"Yes, he had the dominant car, but almost everyone was against him and RBR."

This one you have to explain further as i don´t really understand what it means.

 

[Markus Neumann]

The reason the blown diffuser was banned was because it goes against the green image F1 wants.

They are trying to cut down on fuel so it does not make any sense to have a feature legal that does nothing but increases the fuel economy of the cars.

Restricting the engine maps alone would have done that too. Blown diffusers actually seem like a pretty 'green' idea to me, after all they re-use energy that would have been completely lost otherwise.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Restricting the engine maps alone would have done that too. Blown diffusers actually seem like a pretty 'green' idea to me, after all they re-use energy that would have been completely lost otherwise.

No because the engines would take damage. More specifically the Renault and Merc engine.
That was the reason why they did not fully ban it after Silverstone.

They do not really re-use energy as the engine uses more fuel then before. They create energy with an engine map and use that to gain downforce with the help of the exhausts.

 

[Markus Neumann]

You're right. However, I think my statement is correct for cold blowing, which was banned too. That, at the very least, seems fairly "green" to me.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

In all fairness this whole green image is complete crap. I don´t remember where i read it but the total amount of fuel all of the teams use over a whole season is not enough to fly from London to China or something like that.

But we live in a corporate world where corporations rule the world unfortunately.

 

[glight]

I don't understand the green movement to be honest. It should be about using less energy period, not about using electricity or hydrogen instead of fossil fuels. Everyone seems to forget that to generate electricity coal gets burned at a power plant or that hydrogen production makes CO2 as well.