World motor sport governing body the FIA has announced that any form of ride height control system is illegal in Formula 1. The announcement came after rumors surfaced in the paddock which suggested that the Red Bull team was using such a device in its RB6 Formula 1 car.
Apparently the device would enable a car to run closer to the ground during qualifying which helps improve downforce. With this year’s ban of mid-race refueling and the fact that the cars will have to be in “parc ferme” between after qualifying and before the race (during a “parc ferme”, mechanics are not allowed to work on the car), such a device can be very helpful.
For example, a car will run light during qualifying (with low fuel) and run closer to the ground to help improve downforce, hence generate a quicker lap time. After qualifying, the car will be fueled to the brim for Sunday’s race. This will make the car heavier and the ride height will be reduced further, to a level which is too low. To counter this, the ride height control system will give more clearance.
Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner recently revealed that the team is not running such a system. Ride height control devices in Formula 1 were actually pioneered by the Lotus team (not this year’s entrant) and Williams also used it. It was then banned in 1993. Now that the FIA is clear about this matter, it will be interesting to look at Red Bull’s qualifying performance at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Harvinder Singh Sidhu thinks there's nothing better than Formula 1, not even sliced bread. Having written about cars since 2006, he plunged head first into the industry out of a passion for all things four-wheeled and everything in between. The F1 enthusiast has been following the sport since 1999 and has been keeping up with it since. In between races he keeps himself busy as the host of the Driven motoring TV programme and as our version of the Joker.
Formula 1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of automotive engineering with innovative new technologies. But with new innovations being banned most the time, I wonder how Formula 1 will keep up.
The FIA just like the driver that let the f1 rise to win…. I should not tell his name… nowadays his not driving in Ferrari nor Renault even not in red Bull Racing. I will tell that the cas is Mercedes powered engiene. FIA makes F1 much voring than the past year. they should allow those kind ofb rule. i Suggest that they shouldn’t change the f1 oiginal rules.
Finally no more of Mclaren b****ing about ride height. Lost interest in Mclaren since Kimi left.
interested with mclaren since Hamilton…..the pass master!!
Yea, of coz when one qualifies with top end cars at the back of the grid..
*giggle
of course…FIA want to spice up the race…instruct lewis go to 11th place….and cases with melbourne polices…haha
only hamilton thing’s can attract crowd!!!
In those days Lotus & Williams F1 full active suspension system, was actually running on pneumatic actuators which replaced the conventional spring, and was computer controlled. If any case Red Bull is using it, most probably it is a very less sophisticated version of it.
another messed up rule by FIA, sigh…
already lost interest in F1, too much crazy rules…..
wth happened to FIA nowadays?
Firstly, this is nothing like the active suspension systems employed by teams in the late 80s to early 90s.
However for FIA it is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
The issue is that some teams are suspected of finding a way to cleverly adjust ride height between end of qualifying end start of race next day, during essentially ‘perc ferme’ conditions where nothing on the car should be tampered with.
So FIA has 2 choices now in light of the claims that some teams are going against the ‘spirit of the rule’ through some loop hole:
1. Do nothing. Allow teams to change ride heights via clever circumvention of the rules. Meaning allow them to continue because it is not ‘illegal’ by the rulebook eventhough they are achieving precisely what the rules were trying to prevent when they were written. Those taking advantage continue to benefit and others have to spend more money to take advantage of it, which goes against trying to cap costs.
2. Rewrite the rules so it becomes more specific in its expression to stop teams exploiting the loophole.
Which do you prefer as fan?
The teams don’t really care. They will do whatever it takes to gain an advantage including clever interpretation or clever thinking to avoid the rules like the F-duct and this alleged ride height issue sometimes with disregard to the ‘spirit of the rule’
It will be interesting to see if Red Bull is able to maintain their pace after this ban.
They would be prepared for the ruling. A plan ‘B’ of sorts. Teams know that some of their secrets (especially where visual cues are more apparent ie. ride height) would be discovered eventually by other teams so it’s part of the team’s strategy to max out the advantage before they get discovered. Unfortunately the reliability issues they experienced definitely did not help and will haunt them through the rest of the season. All part of the ‘game’
However ride height changes gives significant performance advantage. Enough to cause protest. If they lose this advantage i don’t think it will be easy to make it up through other areas of the car.
I wonder when the Renault engines will be re-adjusted. Renault appealed to the FIA to modify the engines on grounds of reliability which the FIA accepted.
you know what?
FIA is always hate if anyone faster than ferrari.
this is just another prove(s).
yawn…
So cool !!! every millimeter and millisecond counts
How the world is Lotus gonna come close
Audee, Lotus is not in F1 this year only. How old are you?
Thats why they quit ! They know no chance and waste money and reputation
But dragged back in to embarrassment by some silly Malaysians with their BOLEH this BOLEH that… just becos Proton owns Lotus
VOMIT BLOOD !
We are talking about ride heights here…if you don’t understand anything about it just shut up.
Tony Fernandez instead of admitting how poorly Lotus
are doing ,trying to con big time that they are the best
team among cosworth teams. Please-lah don’t boast so
much cos the other Cosworth teams are improving and Lotus is NOT !
The facts from the races are all there to be seen. Lotus is indeed the best of the newcomers without any doubt.
However they are NOT the best among the Cosworth runners. That title goes to WilliamsF1
It’s got to be a cleverly designed, chassis movement mechanism there…
red bull going down!!!
why???
The most technologically advanced F1 cars were from the late 80s to 90s. Gone are the days. The way FIA is going about screwing with the rules, might as well just promote GP2 as F1.
‘Technologically advanced’ is very subjective though I understand what you’re implying. There was more room for innovation then.
However the fact is today’s cars are still much quicker despite the heavy limitations on innovation. In some sense it is more advanced today but only through refinement of existing technology.
What excited me as an F1 fan back then was the technological innovation. Williams in the early 90s even developed a CVT transmission but it was never raced and FIA banned it.
what lead to this action by FIA is that
McLaren lodge a complaint about red bull height control that can be adjusted by the driver during the qualifying and race itself.
in other word Red Bull was running a self-altering system and not the conventional ride height control that can only be adjusted in the pit by the mechanics.
I guess this is like the paybcak from the Mclaren when Christian Horner of Red Bull lodge a complaint about McLaren F-duct system just before the start of 2010 season in bahrain
But the thing is, FIA never found anything like that on Red Bull’s car. I’ve no idea how they do it, but these will most probably be revealed at the end of the season.
On the other hand, Mclaren said that they are going to bring in such system next week in china. That’s why the arrow might be pointing back to Mclaren.
Errr.. Paul. Why put Petronas Mercedes GP car photo on this post? I thot it is a Red Bull issues..
Coz Mercedes GP looks better than rest of field? Hehe…
This reply from FIA is actually pointing to Mclaren (and maybe Red Bull), maybe paul mistook Mercedes GP and Mclaren’s photo..
The bigger teams such as Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes, Renault are actually envious and worried about the performance of the mid budget team Red Bull and Torro Rosso.
FIA keep moving the goal post that you might just as well throw away the rule book.
It’s bad enough that spying seems to be the favourite pastime in the paddock. Now teams are looking for loop holes in the regulations.
It’s no longer a gentleman’s sport but has become typical yobbish uncouth “winner gets to brag” “winning at all cost” sport.
With no refueling this year, F1 has become so boring. I fell asleep after 10+laps of Sepang F1.
we see many illegal modified cars on the road but nothing is done? what a pity..
and f1 has become quite boring lately..