[Zeiss]

Formula One is to ban the driver-aid traction control from next season.
BBC SPORTS

The sport's governing body the FIA will police the ban on the system that prevents wheelspin by forcing teams to use standard electronic control units.

Traction control was first banned in 1994 to prevent the technology reducing the importance of driver skill.

But it was allowed again in 2001 following fears that the FIA was unable to police the ban and that some teams had found ways to cheat.

The use of standard electronics means the FIA should no longer have any concerns about teams being able to hide such driver-aid systems.

The governing body has banned the system with a new clause added to revised technical regulations that were published on Friday.

It said: "No car may be equipped with a system or device which is capable of preventing the driven wheels from spinning under power or of compensating for excessive throttle demand by the driver.

"Any device or system which notifies the driver of the onset of wheel spin is not permitted."

[shimshimhada]

They need to go back to the roots, reinstate manual gearboxes and get rid of harnesses.

[teknochild]

make things more interesting for sure

[arcrox]

april fools?

[teknochild]

Originally Posted by arcrox

april fools?

probably not, a lot of motorsports dont allow traction control or ABS

i think f1 still doesnt allow abs

[Corey]

Sometimes I pretend I'm an F1 driver cause my car doesn't have abs or traction control. Then I hit the gas and realize I only have 150hp

[06330i]

LMFAO ^^^^.

[Mr.F1 Fan]

It will definitly separate the men from the boys! It'll slow things down a little also. It will be a blast on wet pavement. Half these guys won't no what to do!

[teknochild]

sorry i severly doubt that the drivers in F1 would not know what to do without traction control, maybe a few days practice to get back in the groove, but seriously...

[Mr.F1 Fan]

Originally Posted by teknochild

sorry i severly doubt that the drivers in F1 would not know what to do without traction control, maybe a few days practice to get back in the groove, but seriously...

We'll see....

It's a whole lot of power and from what I have witnessed, the traction control has become a bit of a safety blanket. You might be right techno, but I'm thinking it will be a big change for SOME of these guys. I am picturing 360s galore!

With traction gone, does that mean they will return to slicks? The grooved tires were a product of TC correct? So much for saving money, they keep changing the rules every season, and force the teams to spend hundreds of millions on new R & D.

[teknochild]

yea but i doubt these guys worked their way up to the pinacle of motorsports without knowing how to drive ya know

[Mr.F1 Fan]

You can shove it in my face if I'm wrong....but I'll never admit it anyway!

I still think its gonna be a joke with some of these guys. I'm just picturing Takuma Sato spinnning all over the place.

Tires????........ slicks?

[teknochild]

Originally Posted by Mr.F1 Fan

Tires????........ slicks?

no, the grooves werent introduced to compensate for traction control, they were introduced long after traction control was banned, and long before it was re allowed

[Bimmerista]

It will interesting to see whether advanced engine management software will once again make up the difference, as it did before TC was allowed.

I am leery of NASCAR-style standardisations-a lot of the advanced thech from F1 finds its way into our cars, but I guess I won't climb up on the ledge just yet.


PS I thought grooved tires was one way to slow down the cars....

[obLu]

I'm very torn. I don't want it to be a spec racing series; that defeats the purpose and I find spec racing very boring ... if you *don't* cheat in spec racing you don't have the edge to win consistently.

I'd rather see F1 be a free-for-all. Give them basic box dimensions and say, 'have at it, anything your lovely little mind can think up is fair game'.

The arguement is, those with the biggest budgets will win. Guess what. The budgets are already astronomical so who cares? The other arguement is, the racing will be boring because one or two teams will dominate. Oh, that's different than now how?