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The FIA are stuck between a rock and a hard place, plus I doubt any of us would be discussing the fuel-flow measuring unit had Red Bull not caused this situation.

The unit is a brand new technology and because of the rules that the FIA have set (in terms of testing restrictions), there is no way for the FIA to test the unit on track before rolling it out for general use. There has been reliability issues and some unreliable readings. However the FIA has confirmed the readings accuracy are only out by a few % and they are factoring those details in to how they manage the team's actual fuel usage. That's not a bad situation. And like I said, this would have been a non-issue and a non-discussion point had Red Bull not decided to obnoxiously take matters into their own hands. It would also have meant no-one here would have been critical of the FIA around this device.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

They mentioned during one of the practice session on SSF1 that Red Bull, STR & Lotus were the only 3 team that had been modifying there fuel flow sensors for packaging reasons & that they & Caterham were the 4 teams which were having 95% of the problems with the sensors.

Charlie Whiting has said that there will be no alterations to the fuel flow sensors allowed from the Spanish Gp.


Ted Kravitz also said that there had been some discussion that the fuel been used by Total which all Renault teams are using was causing some problems.

RB made sure to tell everyone when they were having sensor issues after Australia.

During pre-season testing Red Bull made sure to tell everyone they were having issues with the Renault power-unit.

In 2013 Red Bull made sure to tell everyone they were having troubles with the Pirelli tyres.

In 2014 Red Bull are making sure they tell everyone they are having trouble accepting the rules.

There's a common theme here.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

They could have required fitting of the sensors on all cars and monitored the readings but not introduced the fuel flow limit until they were confident the sensors were performing accurately. A pretty logical thing to do really, and I doubt it would have any negative impact on competition over what we have at the moment.

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But what do we have? Really? What we have is one team trying (and failing) to cause trouble. Almost every other team has had issues but none of them have made anything of it.

This really isn't a bad situation. Like I said in my original post, this would be a non-issue if it weren't for Red Bull's shenanigans.

By the way Philthy, hope all is ok with you.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

All good, thanks mate

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There talking about lifting the ban on active suspension to cut costs?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113465

2017 will be switch to 18 inch tyres????
Why cant FIA understand that these things cost again big cash. New suspension, arms, brakes etc...
And it all gets heavier, so imagine a crash happens and a wheel comes loose and hits the driver...
Imagine a scene like Surtees fatal crash from F2. I think its not good to make this changes to the wheels.
And again cars will get heavier and heavier trough the years and the drivers thinner and thinner..

There's going to be a bit of give and take here. There will be more composite with the wheel but less tyre. Flying wheels isn't a new thing and while Henry Surtees incident was sad, that kind of incident is thankfully a very rare occurrence.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Its just a proposal for now although it is something Pirelli have been pushing for.

The active suspension proposal is coming from the teams rather than the FIA.

Yeah, this may help close te gap to Red Bull, they still are the fastest car, just lack an engine. Who knows, I always like to see something new just for the sake of it.

they should make the rule like this

"all cars are free to have active suspension, except those designed by Adrian Newey"

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

On this topic, for those who may have missed it; this close-call happened a few weeks back...

Oh wow!

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

damn those cars doesn't have that cable that holds the wheel into the chassis?

if that thing went a few cm to the left he'd broke his neck

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

There's only so much the tethers can take.

Yeah, I started watching in early 90's and the big teams/cars in my head were Williams and Mclaren. Ferrari was just another midfielder.



I don't know about Pirelli, but Michelin surely said they would like that for a possible comeback.

Whoa, the tyre completely flattened the right mirror there!

The plans for bigger rims have been floating and sinking for several years now. Bridgestone ruled it out because of the re-tooling costs, but I believe both Michelin and Pirelli have been more open to the idea - particularly Michelin, who already produce low-profile tyres for a lot of other categories.

The active suspension call has surprised me, though. I guess it would save money compared to when it was last in F1, as the cost of implementing the electronics and/or hydraulics must be much lower now. Trimming the aerodynamics a little bit more should prevent lap times from getting out of hand, too.