Diffusers

[blacktulip]

The FIA has published further details relating to next week’s International Court of Appeal (ICA) hearing over the legality of the diffusers being used by the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams teams.

Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault lodged the appeal in Australia after stewards rejected their protests over the diffusers. BMW Sauber lodged a similar protest and appeal in Malaysia.

All seven of the aforementioned teams, along with McLaren, are expected to be heard by the ICA next Tuesday, with an announcement of the hearing’s outcome expected the following day.

FIA statement in full:

The following hearing of the International Court of Appeal will take place in Paris:

Hearing

Appeals lodged by:

- OSK/ÖAMTC on behalf of its competitor Red Bull Racing;
- FFSA on behalf of its competitor ING Renault F1 Team; and
- CSAI on behalf of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March 2009 at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship

Prior to the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia, Red Bull Racing, ING Renault F1 and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro submitted protests to the Panel of Stewards arguing that the cars of Brawn GP Formula One Team, AT&T Williams and Panasonic Toyota Racing did not comply with the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations. The disputes relate in particular to the technical design of the diffuser devices used by the latter three teams. The Panel of the Stewards rejected the protests submitted.

Red Bull Racing, ING Renault F1 and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro have (through their respective ASNs) appealed the Stewards’ decisions.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, Brawn GP Formula One Team, AT&T Williams, BMW Sauber F1 Team and Panasonic Toyota Racing have (through their respective ASNs) asked to be heard by the Court.

When

10.00 hrs
Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Where

FIA Salle du Comité,
8, place de la Concorde,
75008 Paris

Decision

The decisions are expected on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, in the afternoon.

[blacktulip]

The way I look at this moan

The teams ivolved in the dispute are like babies sulking and spitting the dummy out
There tech people could have used the rule to develop their own diffusers but just because they were not clever enough to do so they try and get it banned, if the ban fails then you could bet your last dollar that these moaning teams will all of a sudden have diffusers such as the ones in question on their cars

[blacktulip]

I found this most interesting article on F1 Fanatic blog, its worth looking at.

I would really hate it and i suspect so would a lot of people but if Brawn, Toyota and Williams were disqualified from the first two races the current championships would be as follows.
Drivers Championship
1.F.Alonso-11.5pts
2.N.Heidfeld-9
3=.S.Buemi-8
3=.S.Bourdais-8
5.M.Webber-6
6.A.Sutil-5
7=.L.Hamilton-3
7=.G.Fisichella-3
9.F.Massa-2.5
10=.N.Piquet Jr-1
10=.S.Vettel-1
12.K.Raikkonen-0.5
13=.R.Kubica-0
13=H.kovalainen-0
14=.J.Button-0
14=.J.Trulli-0
14=.T.Glock-0
14=.R.Barrichello-0
14=.N.Rosberg-0
14=.K.Nakajima-0

[seabassfan]

Everyone knows that Bernie and Ferrari are "thick as thieves"- even though McLaren snuck in like Ali Babba last year. lol. We also know that throughout the years, teams have "stolen"- or (more appropriately) copied- successful ideas from other teams and used them. Now- all-of-a-sudden- this year, the teams getting trounced by the "new boys" are acting like babies and crying foul. If there was anything wrong with the Brawn, Toyota, and Williams diffusers, the stewards in Melbourne would have said no to these teams (I read somewhere the Brawn had a diffuser to strict regs ready just in case) running the diffusers. However, even after the post race inspection, the stewards still thought that there was nothing wrong with them. This appeal should (will) be turned down- especially since (I think) they used the same diffuser in Maylasia. The Brawn cars are simply kicking butt with Ferrari and Renault unable to come to grips with the fact that they aren't the "Big Dogs in the pen" anymore! Just look at the quali times so far: Les than 6 seconds from first to twentieth in Melbourne and less than 5 seconds difference in Maylasia! Ferrari, Renault, and the other whiners have to realize that, this year, there's going to be legitimate racing- which is all-the-better for the fans who buy tickets and memorabilia that support the series.

[fraggle]

New season, new issue is the way I look at it?

2006 and the mass damper affair anyone? Yet ooh.. didn't the j damper (which wasn't too disimiliar to the mass damper in principle) which came in 07/08, but as the majority of teams could get it to work, no one batted an eyelid?

Not forgetting the late 90s and McLaren's secret braking system that Darren Heath snapped.

So rather than another season spent in the boardroom arguing over which car is valid and has its right to be on the grid. I want to know what the long term solution is to this? Would all cars in future at the start of each season have to be signed off by the FiA confirming they have met the design spec standards? When you think about how stupid each season is getting as time goes on, it does seem that this might be the only path left.

A dose of controversy does make things quite exciting, don't get me wrong. But over the last 3 seasons now its getting more protracted and just smacks of X no. of teams each year now throwing the rattle out of their pram.

Bearing in mind there are three new teams meant to be on the grid next season, I'm already starting to wonder which one/if not all of them will find themselves caught up in something like this.

[blacktulip]

All depends on which of the new teams Bernie and Make likes, they will get on

All this could stop if all the teams quit F1 and Ferrari entered 15 teams, just think how happt Bernie would be LOL

[raikkofan]

You guys cannot seriously believe that without the ground-effect diffusers Brawn would be leading in the points chase! I'm the first to admit I'm a Ferrari fan, but not at all costs. Sportsmanship weighs heavily in my support of all forms of auto racing. Fact is, over the last few years Ferrari has won only 1 Championship, by Kimi. Last year-- in the year of McLaren espionage-- Hammy won the whole ball of wax. Two and three years before that Alonso won it all. Fine for Fernando and to whatever extent Lewis and/or his team and car didn't benefit from stolen Ferrari data I say more power to them. But please face it, Brawn leads because of and only because of ground-effect diffusers. If the appeal is upheld I look for the other teams to join in the illegal behaviour. They'll have to if they want to win a podium this year, it's that simple and that stark of a disadvantage. If the appeal is upheld, look for Brawn to start its descent to the cellar or at least the middle of the pack. There's no way on God's green Earth that Button and Rubens are better drivers than Lewis, Felipe,Kimi and Robert. They are leading the series ONLY because of the equipment they have at their disposal. I congratulate the other teams for abiding to FIA rules to this point and hold no ill will from this point forward if they also have to violate rules to compete with rule violators. Go Kimi!

[blacktulip]

From F1.com

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen believes the FIA’s ruling on the legality of the diffusers used by Brawn, Williams and Toyota will have a huge bearing on the outcome of the 2009 championship. Ferrari, alongside Renault, Red Bull and BMW Sauber, have protested the decision of stewards to allow the controversial designs to be raced in Australia and Malaysia and their appeal is due to be heard on April 14.

While Ferrari are yet to score points, Brawn, Williams and Toyota all enjoyed strong pace at the opening two Grands Prix, with Brawn clinching two consecutive victories. And Raikkonen believes that the F60’s underperformance can be chiefly blamed on a relative lack of downforce, a shortfall almost certainly made worse by the disparity in diffuser designs.

“We still don’t have any points after two races and this is a very difficult moment," the Finn told the Italian team’s official website. "The next race is in China, but a couple of days before the FIA’s Court of Appeal will decide about the diffuser. This decision will have an enormous impact on the championship.

"You just need to analyse the performance in the three sectors at Malaysia to understand that we’re losing a lot compared to the best cars. You can see that especially in the middle section, where downforce is really crucial.”

Although settling the diffuser issue one way or the other will help Ferrari decide in which direction their development programme needs to progress, Raikkonen is confident that everyone in the Italian team has been working flat-out to find other solutions to boost the F60’s pace.

“We’re missing grip and downforce and we’ve got to give it our all with what we have,” he added. “There are some new features coming up and I know that the team is working very hard to anticipate the whole development. We’ve seen other moments like this, but we know how to react and we’ll do it already at Shanghai.”

[blacktulip]

Hi there Raikkofan
you say "If the appeal is upheld I look for the other teams to join in the illegal behaviour"

As yet it is not illegal, the stewards checked it and were happy. Yes it is subject to appeal, but one must remember this technology was there for all teams to use.

Its an interpritation of the rules and Brawn did ask the FIA if it was ok to use, it seems that it is a grave case of the sulks by the super teams who are getting beaten and do not like the taste of not being top dog

[blacktulip]

This is an extract from the daily Telegraph, a news paper of renown.

The odds are currently stacked in his favour. His Brawn machine is unassailable and should stay so a while yet - the FIA's Court of Appeal meet next Tuesday to rule on the legality of Brawn's controversial rear diffuser, but since six race stewards have now cleared it, there are no prizes for guessing which way the ruling will come down.

[seabassfan]

I'd be willing to bet that if the appeal is successful, it would be the breaking point for the FIA. Every team has been complaining for the last decade (at least) that Bernie and Max have been leaning in favor of Ferrari. Now, other top teams are joining in on the gang-up on Brawn, Toyota, and Williams. Sauber(?) joining in- they would be also-rans if Ferrari hadn't provided transmissions the last 3 years. Red Bull- what would they be if they didn't have Ferrari engines. Also, folks- let's not forget that early this winter (I can't remember which) Max, or Bernie, openly admitted that they had been giving Ferrari many times the guaranteed monies (to race) as was promised even to Renault! It's been bad enough with "spygate" and 100 million pound fine to McLaren, Lewis openly lying in an investigation (how long will Heikki stay on?) this year, plus the rip off of late afternoon start times- In Australia, I could have lived without the on-boards late in the race when you could barely see anything for the sun, and Sepang where it was more of a yacht race.

Kimi blaming unfair downforce(?) for the crappy showing by Ferrari! HAH! How about tire usage- both had no tires at the end of Australia, Felipe blew it in qualifying and Kimi was totally bad tire choices throughout Maylasia (Felipe only got 10th due to retirements of different sorts). So- instead of saying they need to make better decisions during the race- Ferrari (et al) choose to blame someone else for shortcomings of their own cause! How many world championships has Ferrari won- 17 or more? You don't win all of them by being completely honest and forthright! You win them by "bending the rules"some to achieve your goal! Now that Jean Todt's "protegee" is showing him up- It's crying time. I liked Michael, but, I never like Ferrari! But, then again, Maybe it could just be the fact that Jensen (and Rubens) may be matched to car(s) that equal the ability these 2 have always had. Toyota Brawn GP) finally have quality F1 cars! Rubens is free to run his race without being "2nd fiddle" to anyone! I was thinking that Rubens was, maybe, 7 to 10 laps to challenging Jensen for the lead without the rain.

[blacktulip]

From ITV F1 the latest

Tuesday’s ICA hearing gives all parties a chance to present their case, with McLaren also in attendance at the hearing.




Whatever the outcome of the appeal, the next phase of this season’s championship – which has so far been dominated by the ‘diffuser gang’ – is set to be defined by the verdict.


Should the appeal court echo the views of the Australian and Malaysian race stewards and declare the designs legal, then it will trigger a development race between the grid’s other seven squads to incorporate the two-step diffuser onto their cars as quickly as possible.


Several teams have already started development on their own diffuser, but it would take some longer to incorporate the different arrangement into their existing rear-end designs.


However, if the FIA’s court upholds the appeal then it potentially has several options open to it.


The diffusers could be banned immediately, thus posing big problems for Brawn, Toyota and Williams at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, or the FIA could order the three teams to redesign the rear of their cars to include a more standard diffuser by a set timeframe, such as the start of the European season at Barcelona next month.


The appeal court could also conceivably annul the results of the season’s opening two races, which would wipe out Jenson Button and Brawn’s early championship leads and dramatically revise the current standings.


Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner said in Malaysia that should the ICA rule in favour of the protesting teams, then it would have major financial and performance implications.




"I think the diffuser just opens up so many development avenues on the underbody of the car, which is obviously the most powerful aerodynamic tool on the car," he said.




"For us, we just want clarity going forward, there is some ambiguity in the regulations.




"Certainly from a cost point of view it would be quite a significant cost associated with introducing a component like that at the earliest opportunity.




"Also the cornering speeds will just continue to increase and increase."


What is the diffuser?


The rear diffuser is an upward-sweeping 'ramp' on the underside of the car, located beneath the engine and gearbox behind the rear wheel axle line.


While the front and rear wings (aerofoils) work the air that passes over the car's body, the diffuser harnesses the air that travels underneath the car.


The diffuser's shape causes air to be channelled through it and creates a suction effect that pushes the car into the ground.


Working in conjunction with the undertray, the diffuser generates a large proportion of the car's rear downforce.


Why the controversy?


The 2009 regulations restrict the maximum height of the diffuser's central section to 175mm.


But by exploiting regulations that allow extra bodywork within a 150mm zone in the centre of the car, Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams have cleverly shaped their cars' rear crash structure so that it effectively extends the diffuser's central section.


Taken together, the result is a central section that exceeds the 175mm height limit that applies to the diffuser alone.


A taller diffuser means more rear downforce, a commodity that is in short supply this year due to the higher and narrower rear wings.


The three teams who have taken this route are adamant that they have observed the letter of the rules, and FIA president Max Mosley has conceded that they have been "clever" in exploiting a grey area.


But rival teams believe their interpretation flouts the spirit of the regulations, with Renault boss Flavio Briatore claiming they had simply drawn up their own rule book.

[fraggle]

Did anyone watching BBC1 Breakfast this morning spot the mistake? Brown GP as if! Its Brawn GP. And Turnbull said it more than once...

[knightelcid]

Ok, this is what I THINK is going to happen tomorrow (well today for you boys and girls across the pond). I think FIA is going to give the ok to the diffusers. Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota will continue to use them for the rest of the season. I also think Renault will have them ready for....Chinaaaa...yeap , I think they already have it but FIA declared theirs illegal during the pre-season (whatever!!! ) and I also think Ferrari is hidding something too for China (my instint tells me they might use the diffuser too). Well let's sit tight and see what the outcome will be. ;D

[blacktulip]

yes we should know this afternoon elcid, lets hope its positive.

[fraggle]

So Brawn GP to win the season then? Based on today's declaration the diffusers are legal.

www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74475

Wonder how long it is before they get banned though? Probably when RF1 get theirs to work. ;D

[digital_F1]

Don't jinx it, Fraggle