FIA bans radio chat about car and driver performance in F1

[Wardez]

http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/09/11/fia-bans-radio-chat-about-car-and-driver-performance/

Really interesting development. For those not so in the know: this season, F1 drivers, especially Mercedes (seemingly, although to be fair their radio transmissions are broadcast much more than other teams') have been nannied much more than is comfortable.

You'd hear transmissions such as, " Nico, we need you to drive fast and pass the car ahead," or "you're losing a tenth braking too late in turn 9," etc. etc.

Drivers would also take advantage, asking their engineers all kinds of talk. It's just been too much and it's starting to get pretty annoying, even to me. Glad FIA clamped down on this quickly.

I feel that drivers like Nico Rosberg, who have much more of a methodical approach to GPs are going to suffer more because of this. It's going to be interesting to see if this shakes anything up. I have doubts it will much, but there's still a chance.

Curious little shakeup nonetheless.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

"Nico, we need you to drive fast and pass the car ahead,"

Am I the only one who thinks it's hilarious that racing drivers need to be told this?

 

[Peasantslayer]

I think because drivers are forced to drive within themselves during races now "like taxi drivers" as Luca put it they rely much more on radio messages to race at their optimum.
I'm sure there will be ways around this as long as it isn't blatantly obvious like the "Fernando is faster than you message".

 

[Wardez]

Am I the only one who thinks it's hilarious that racing drivers need to be told this?

Yeah, I wonder how the drivers feel about it, hopefully it comes up in the presser for Singapore. I really hope they find it annoying rather than desirable.

 

[mustafur]

there is an issue though, when they are told to use less fuel does that count?

If it does then we could be seeing alot of drivers running out of fuel in the race, or will they just use pit boards for the same message.

 

[Furinkazen]

Prepare for secret communications of "Pasta is coming loose, get one out on plates" as code for "front wing coming off, new one?". F1 to become dinner time hour on the comms. Guarenteed.

 

[Wardez]

there is an issue though, when they are told to use less fuel does that count?

If it does then we could be seeing alot of drivers running out of fuel in the race, or will they just use pit boards for the same message.

Well they have automatic beeps that come through in their headphones to regulate fuel usage, so that doesn't really matter. But I'm pretty sure they have a fuel read out for them to look out. Remember in China when Nico's telemetry was on the fritz and he had to update the team on his car's fuel?

Prepare for secret communications of "Pasta is coming loose, get one out on plates" as code for "front wing coming off, new one?". F1 to become dinner time hour on the comms. Guarenteed.

lol, they can say stuff like that, they just can't act like annoying boxing corner coaches, " YEAH, HIT 'EM HARDER, THAT'S RIGHT, HIT 'EM WITH YER FIRST IN THEIR FACEPLACE."

 

[Furinkazen]

YEAH, NICO HIT THAT APEX HARDER, THAT'S RIGHT, HIT THE SHINY ONE WITH FIRST IN THE BOTTOM AREA

Fixed for how communications circa Spa 2014 would be for Nico Rosberg.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Not sure how to feel about this, these modern F1 cars are so complicated that drivers do really need some help to know if they're overheating brakes and what not.

 

[spacecowboy73]

Not sure how to feel about this, these modern F1 cars are so complicated that drivers do really need some help to know if they're overheating brakes and what not.

It's not just that this year in particular they are more complicated, it's also the drivers are having to drive to deltas and preserve the machinery/fuel/tires more than in previous years.

Clearly F1 must be in such good shape that this was the priority issue at the moment.

 

[Touring Mars]

Nico, we need you to drive fast and pass the car ahead without hitting it"

FTFY

 

[MustangManiac]

Not sure how to feel about this, these modern F1 cars are so complicated that drivers do really need some help to know if they're overheating brakes and what not.

I agree that they are very complex, but I'm not so sure brake heat is a good example. Back in my day if your brakes began to fade you knew you were overheating them, if they started to pulse you knew you had started boiling the fluid. A car will talk to you, you just need to know how to listen. I am guessing that much of that is still true today.

 

[Blitz24]

You'd hear transmissions such as, " Nico, we need you to drive fast and pass the car ahead," or "you're losing a tenth braking too late in turn 9," etc. etc.

Am I the only one who thinks it's hilarious that racing drivers need to be told this?

You guys know why they did this. They agree with Raikkonen .

"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing."

 

[GTPorsche]

Maybe if F1 wasn't so overcomplicated, this wouldn't be an issue...

 

[Northstar]

I think Sniff Petrol put it best.

F1 teams have reacted immediately to the FIA’s decision to ban ‘driver performance’ radio messages during races with at least one senior figure calling it ‘loco 7 at X4, as discussed.’

Another race engineer was equally outspoken, calling the decision ‘warm 5 is max and smooth for go strat 8 to 9, repeat smooth for go strat 8 to 9.’

However, a source at another leading team was more cautious, noting that the ruling was ‘green to 12J for seven, the blue cow is sitting on nine leaves. Sitting. On. Nine. Leaves.’

Meanwhile, a well-known senior figure from an Oxfordshire-based team took a different view. ‘Oh Jesus,’ he sighed. ‘I’m going to have to give Felipe written instructions.’

All this will do is make it more complicated to know what the hell they are talking about.


Also, yes, I just felt like posting that as Sniff Petrol articles are rarely AUP compliant.

 

[Peasantslayer]

It might benefit drivers that are good at learning new languages...

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

In my opinion, they should ban telling the drivers when to pit for new tyres as well, let the guys race and decide for themselves.

 

[marco89IT]

Williams:

RedBull:

McLaren:

Mercedes:

Am I the only one thinking this can make a huge difference now?

 

[sems4arsenal]

I agree that they are very complex, but I'm not so sure brake heat is a good example. Back in my day if your brakes began to fade you knew you were overheating them, if they started to pulse you knew you had started boiling the fluid. A car will talk to you, you just need to know how to listen. I am guessing that much of that is still true today.

They warn them because brakes will overheat eventually, I take your point but it's no use having driver like Lewis or Seb running fast and have them crash at the end of the race due to brake failure. And that's just one example.

 

[DK]

You guys know why they did this. They agree with Raikkonen .

"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing."

He's going to dominate the rest of the season.

 

[dsgerbc]

This is silly. They should ban broadcast of those messages if it annoys some people. There's nothing wrong in asking where one could go faster if the weather conditions are a lot different from practice. Normally, they'd stop and look at telemetry anyway, radio communications just saves some valuable time. There would totally be coded messages, electronically transmitted messages that'd flash on the wheel's screen, or something else to get around it.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

According to Adam Cooper, the ban only applies to messages going from the pit to the car that could be interpreted as the team coaching their driver. There will be no clamp-down on drivers querying the pit wall, but if they do, it must be a closed question - they can ask "should I use yellow G3?", but not "which setting should I use?".

 

[ukfan758]

The only good thing is that hopefully we won't have to listen to the teams yapping all the time during the race.

 

[hawkeye122]

Why not just ban the radios altogether? Anything that isn't "Your car is on fire, get out" or "Yellow in turn 10, car blocking road" gets an automatic drive through penalty

 

[prisonermonkeys]

To add to the ridiculousness, the British media is now saying that this will naturally favour Hamilton and handicap Rosberg, because apparently Rosberg is a remote-controlled automaton whose success is directly proportionate to the amount of coaching he gets.

They're not even trying to be subtle about it.

 

[niky]

Well, obviously. I mean, it's not like Hamilton has benefitted from talking to the pits to sort out an ERS problem that cost him the lead on the first lap...

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To be honest, I actually enjoy the strategic radio chatter. F1 is a team sport, after all, and it only makes sense that the team works as a team on the track as well as in the pits.

However, I fully agree that it's within the spirit of the "unaided" part of the rules.

Yet surely the team can tell the driver if his engine is on fire and he has to retire the car?

Supposedly, the drivers should have it on the heads-up display and should know when they have a problem... but there's only so much data you can provide visually. At least give the teams a little red pilot light that tells the driver to "come back into the pits"... we've got to fix something.

-

And... it's complete bull-droppings to hand this down mid-season. The FIA is developing a habit of approaching each season like a cheesy reality-TV contest... "We're halfway through the season... someone spin the Wheel of Fate! Let's see what this year's 'twist' will be... tire selection mix-up, part-banning or sporting regulation change?"

 

[prisonermonkeys]

My understanding is that strategic talk will be fine. It's the coaching that the FIA wants to end, with the engineers and tacticians being more of a resource that the drivers will be able to draw on in order to better make decisions, rather than simply being told what to do. If anything is going to change, it will be the phrasing of communications between pit and car. In the event of a critical problem - like the ERS issues Mercedes had in Canada - the team will probably be able to intervene.

 

[Dennisch]

And... it's complete bull-droppings to hand this down mid-season. The FIA is developing a habit of approaching each season like a cheesy reality-TV contest... "We're halfway through the season... someone spin the Wheel of Fate! Let's see what this year's 'twist' will be... tire selection mix-up, part-banning or sporting regulation change?"

 

[Wardez]

So here's exactly what is and isn't allowed: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115824?source=mostpopular

EXAMPLES OF WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED

Allowed

- Telling a driver when he is allowed to or meant to stop for new tyres

- Team orders in terms of overtaking or letting a team-mate past

- Warning a driver about the traffic situation during qualifying and the race

- Safety warning relating to yellow flags or dangerous situations on the track

Not allowed

- Informing a driver to change any settings on his car to improve its performance

- Informing a driver about his fuel consumption and how to manage his pace

- Informing a driver about his own performance in sectors and where he can improve

- Informing a driver about the condition or state of his tyres

- Informing a driver how best to approach the formation lap or setting changes to make better start

 

[IforceV8]

All of the rules that are counter productive to actual on track performance,tire limits,fuel flow limits, parc ferme restictions,grid penalties for engine/PU failures etc and this is now a priority. Stupid idea.