The FIA has confirmed that they have moved to ban reactive ride height systems such as the one pioneered by the Lotus team just weeks before the start of the 2012 season, claiming the device contravened three technical rules.
The new reactive ride height systems were set to be the new vogue technical gizmo for the 2012 season, after it emerged that Lotus had pioneered the technology at the Young Driver Test last November.Ferrari had also reportedly submitted a version of the device to the FIA for assessment, with other teams eyeing up the system in what could have become F1's latest development war.
But the FIA have confirmed overnight reports that the devices have now been banned for the coming season.
According to the Reuters news agency on Saturday afternoon, FIA head of F1 communications Matteo Bonciani confirmed that the governing body had written to all teams confirming the ban.
He claimed that the FIA had received "a number" of requests to verify systems that "could alter the configuration of a car's suspension in response to changes in brake torque".
The Lotus-pioneered reactive systems would use the car's braking to raise the ride height of the car, keeping the machine more stable and aerodynamically efficient through corners.
According to Bonciani, the devices have been banned after being found to contravene articles 3.15, 10.2.1 and 10.2.3 of the 2012 technical regulations.
Article 3.15 concerns the "aerodynamic influence" on a car, and states that: "With the exception of the [DRS wing], any car system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited."
This rules would seem to suggest that the FIA considered the driver's own braking foot, which would then influence the reactive ride height systems, as being used as a movable aerodynamic aid.
Article 10.2.1 states that: "With the steering wheel fixed, the position of each wheel centre and the orientation of its rotation axis must be completely and uniquely defined by a function of its principally vertical suspension travel, save only for the effects of reasonable compliance which does not intentionally provide further degrees of freedom."
Meanwhile, 10.2.3 says: "No adjustment may be made to the suspension system while the car is in motion."
The systems that the FIA had been asked to inspect had involved changes to the "length of a suspension member", something that is in contravention of the final article.
The news of the ban was first broken on the Flying Lap webcast by Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan, who admitted that Williams had been working on their own version of the system.
"We have been investigating that type of system for a while," Gillan explained, "It is obviously an impact on the aerodynamic platform of the car."
He added: "Anything that gets the ride-height lower, particularly the front ride-height lower, is beneficial from an aerodynamic perspective."
The ban is expected to have an impact on the Lotus team's preparations for the new season, ahead of the first pre-season test on February 7th.
As far as other teams are concerned, the effect is unclear, though Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali admitted that they had been looking at the technology.
"We are waiting for the final confirmation if this kind of devices will be acceptable or not," he told reporters at Ferrari's pre-season Wroom event earlier this month.
"But for sure we are looking around these sorts of devices to see if they contribute to a performance. But we need to wait and see what will be the reaction to the FIA on that."
Meanwhile, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was less convinced by the devices earlier this week, telling Autosport that: "It's like all of these things, it's about how they work and how they are integrated in the car.
"Things have to work as a package rather than as individual components. It appears to be an interesting concept but I'm the wrong person to be commenting on it."
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