FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting believes that the off-throttle engine mapping being used by most Formula One teams would have been protested had the FIA not acted to ban the technology from the British GP onwards.
The process of using complicated engine mapping software to increase the flow of exhaust gases through the rear diffusers of F1 cars has been this season major point of technical contention.The FIA have pushed through a new rule that will limit teams to using mapping to simulate exhaust emissions only up to 10% of maximum throttle from the Silverstone race.
Furthermore, the governing body has banned the use of qualifying-spec mapping for this weekend's European Grand Prix, after the practice was deemed to be against the spirit of parc ferme rules.
The FIA had originally planned to ban the practice from the Spanish GP, but were forced to drop their plans after unforeseen complications emerged.
That led to suggestions that teams struggling to use the mapping systems could protest the teams running with it, with HRT boss Colin Kolles hinting that he might submit a protest during the Monaco GP weekend.
And Whiting suggested over the European GP weekend that there would have been protests had the FIA not offered assurances that the practice would be banned as soon as was practical.
"I think we got close to a protest in Monaco and I gave the team the assurance that we were going to follow it up and we were not going to give it up," Whiting explained to the media in Valencia.
"They were concerned about us changing our mind [for the Spanish race] and letting it go for the rest of the season."
He added: "I have already emphasised to the teams that that option [to protest] is open to them. Everyone is doing to the same degree the same thing, but we need to be sensible about it and approach it in a pragmatic way to get the situation under control."
Asked why the FIA had looked to ban the technology midway through the season, a move that has been questioned by some F1 bosses and drivers, he explained that it was important for the governing body to clarify the legality of the cars.
And he suggested that the FIA themselves had no evidence to suggest that any one team would be penalised more than the others as a result of the ban.
"All we are doing is making sure how we think a car should be run legally," he explained when asked why the FIA was acting at this point of the season.
"It is not for us to say whether or not a certain team would be more penalised than others. It just depends how extreme they are, but I have seen evidence of maps from teams that are extremely extreme and it is not confined to one team, I can assure you."
As far as how much of a penalty the ban would inflict on lap times, Whiting said that the benefit of the 'extreme' engine maps might be up to half a second.
"I think it is impossible for us to quantify it," he mused, "But I have heard during discussions that the most extreme maps may give you half a second per lap. That is what I hear, but it is not something we are concerned with."
He also claimed that the final details of the Silverstone restrictions were still being fleshed out, due to the complications of implementing such a ban.
"There are a few elements that we have not yet finalised," he admitted, "We have had meetings with a couple of engine manufacturers, as we only want to target this one particular area for what we feel is the illegal use of engine maps for aero reasons.
"We don't want to influence the perfectly legitimate systems on the cars like engine braking for example, we are happy for them to use it but we don't want it to be abused."
But he revealed that one engine manufacturer on the F1 grid was asking for more leeway in the rules, saying: "If a driver comes off the throttle, we are saying that the throttles can be 10 per cent opened at 12,000rpm and 20 per cent open at 18,000rpm.
"One engine manufacturer is asking for a little bit more and for what appear to be genuine reasons."
He added: "We have the ability to go back to 2009 and look at the maps and records we have and everything.
"We can refer back to those – if they needed 28 per cent of throttle at 18,000rpm back then it is perfectly legitimate – so that would appear to be a perfectly reasonable request."
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