Controversial Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has questioned the FIA's apparent decision to ban the off-throttle diffuser systems from the British Grand Prix next month, suggesting the decision was "strange".
The decision to ban the throttle systems has not been officially confirmed by the FIA, but reports from last week's Technical Working Group meeting show that the ban will go through.The complicated engine mapping systems, which teams have been using to deliver a steady flow of exhaust gas through their blown diffusers, will be limited to 10% of maximum throttle from the Silverstone race.
A ban on the systems has been in the FIA's plans for some time, with an attempt to ban them for the Spanish Grand Prix eventually having to be abandoned.
But Marko has muttered conspiratorially that it has been "strange" that the FIA have decided to ban the technology in the middle of the season.
"Inventions such as the double diffuser and the F-duct were both banned at the end of the year," he grumbled to the German Bild-Zeitung newspaper on Saturday.
He went on: "Now we see a ban in the middle of the season. That's pretty strange."
He added that the Red Bull squad was still hoping that the ban would not affect them too much compared to their rivals, while he suggested that the Ferrari team could benefit the most.
"What we hope now is that it doesn't hit us any harder than it does Renault, Mercedes and McLaren," he mused thoughtfully, "While Ferrari is most certainly looking to gain an advantage."
The Renault and Red Bull teams are reported to be the ones that have got their off-throttle systems working the best, but it will be difficult to see which teams are hit the most until the ban comes into affect.
Meanwhile Marko's comments may be seen as a hint that the ban was pushed through to try and peg back Red Bull's advantage. The caffeinated squad have taken all seven poles so far in 2011, with Sebastian Vettel winning five races.
The German leads the championship by 60 points as the teams head for the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
But the FIA's ban appears to be part of a more general clampdown on complicated diffuser-based work, with blown diffusers in general set to be banned from 2012.
The ban will reportedly be achieved by changing the regulations to force teams to design 'top-exiting' exhausts, as were traditional in past F1 seasons.
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