FIA looking to ban engine mapping changes between qualifiers and race – Formula 1 news
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) is set to bring out a new regulation in the 2011 Formula 1 season after which the teams will not be allowed to change their engine map after the qualifiers.
In a note sent by Charlie Whiting to the teams, it was explained that they will now use the same engine maps for the qualifiers and race for saving engine life and fuel consumption.
Although these reports are still unconfirmed, yet the teams are set to lose some important fractions of seconds in the qualifiers due to this ruling.
Formula 1 teams frequently use a different set up for the qualifiers to improve their speed and then in race, the engine set up is changed once again to make the car run some long distances.
Red Bull Racing, the leading team of the 2011 Formula 1 season, are using some different set ups in the qualifiers than the race which is giving them some extra edge over other teams as they have secured all the seven pole positions so far.
After the ban on the Blown Diffuser from the Silverstone Grand Prix, it was already feared that the speeds of the cars in the race and the qualifiers will be reduced dramatically.
As for this rule, if it goes ahead, there are only two options for the team. Either run a slow set up in the qualifiers so that the same map can be used in the race or risk going fast in the qualifiers and the car might face a reliability issue in the race
since the qualifiers set up consumes more fuel and the engine gets overheated.
Engine mapping ban along with the early exit of the Blown Diffuser technology from Formula 1 are set to hit the fast cars on the track as the FIA looks to cut down on costs.
Nevertheless, the engine ban is just in the preliminary stage. Let’s see whether the FIA goes ahead with it or not.
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