Sebastian Vettel plays down the impact of engine map for Hungarian Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Sebastian Vettel has played down the impact of the engine map clarification and is expecting the FIA’s recent technical clarification on engine mapping which according to him will have little impact on Red Bull’s performance over the weekend at Budapest.
Red Bull’s engine mapping has been investigated by the stewards on the morning of the German Grand Prix which resulted in FIA flagging concerns over the nature of the engine’s torque output and how it gives an aerodynamic advantage to the car as it involved
the off throttle exhaust blowing.
The off throttle blowing has been banned for this season by the FIA and there were concerns that Red Bull might not be able to start the race at Germany.
“There's probably more of a fuss outside the car than in it,” he said. “What we had on the car in Hockenheim was what we decided to go for because we believed it was quickest. It's a little bit different here, but it's hard to express [the difference]. It's
hard to say two tenths, half a tenth or nothing because we can't measure it either.”
He added that if you look at the cars this year they are quite different from last year when it comes to the regulations and the exhaust is modified to be placed a certain way for the season. Other teams have tried to achieve it as well. He did however admit
that in a way it is similar to last year so all the teams are trying to do their best. The car is still the same and it does not change it much.
Vettel said that all the teams have tried to find a work around the ban on the exhaust-blown diffusers, but the Red Bull car’s performance is not dependent on the engine map the team ran in Germany.
It will be interesting to see how Red Bull fares at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team had the fastest car at Germany and it will become clear whether the engine map had anything to do with the pace of the car or not.
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