JUNE 17, 2011

Silverstone diffuser ban is on

After a meeting of F1's Technical Working Group at London's Heathrow airport today, the ban on hot and cold blown diffusers will happen as from the British Grand Prix.

FIA race director and technical delegate Charlie Whiting explained at the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona on May 22 that in the opinion of the governing body, blown diffusers were illegal but that the governing body was prepared to grant a period of grace as a result of the complications involved in changing engine maps.

Paddock speculation suggested that because Red Bull and Renault had been experimenting with exhaust blown diffusers the longest, the constructors' champions had the most to lose from the ban. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, asked in Canada if such an assumption was too simplistic, replied: "I hope not!"

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, meanwhile, went as far as suggesting that the blown diffuser ban could fundamentally alter the respective levels of competitiveness in F1.