Martin Whitmarsh: McLaren to benefit in qualifying if blown diffuser banned – Formula 1 news
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has recently stated that if the International Automobile Federation (FIA) bans the exhaust-blown diffuser until the British Grand Prix, it will reduce Red Bull’s advantage by almost half a second per lap.
According to recent results, Red Bull Racing have been qualifying just a couple of tenths ahead of their rivals which is not as good as their initial qualifying performances in the ongoing 2011 Formula 1 season when they used to qualify almost a second faster
than the rest of the teams.
At this past weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel’s pole position taking time was just around 2 tenths faster than the second fastest driver of the session Fernando Alonso. Even at the Monaco Grand Prix, Jenson Button’s second fastest time of
the qualifying session was just over 4 tenths of a second slower than Vettel’s pole position taking lap time.
This means that according to Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren and Ferrari will be back in the game if the blown diffusers are banned from the sport and that Red Bull’s advantage over their rivals is mainly because of their expertise in blown diffusers and aerodynamics.
“It's quite possible we will close up in qualifying by half a second (if there is a ban),” Whitmarsh told the media.
Other than that, the FIA recently said that the current use of the device is against the rules of the sport. It said the teams use the throttle charts of the device in a way that even when they are not using the accelerator of the car, exhaust gases are
blown through the diffuser which enables the drivers to use this device as a movable aerodynamic equipment which is against the rules.
Therefore, the FIA announced that this system is going to be banned from the sport starting from the British Grand Prix this year which is scheduled to take place on July 10, 2011.
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