The banning of traction control and other electronic aids for 2008
and 2009 was greeted with enthusiasm from purists, who wanted to see
a greater emphasis upon driver input, but some of the sports top
drivers are warning of an expected increase in accidents in very wet
conditions with the removal of such driver aids.
The Formula One drivers have had a chance to drive the latest cars, and
they spoke about their concerns in the latest issue of Autosport magazine
(the source of their quotes).
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Jenson Button, Honda Racing F1 Team. Photo by xpb.cc.
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"The only worry I have about driving without traction control is racing
in wet conditions," stated Honda's Jenson Button. "It's going to be very
dangerous. We couldn't have raced in Fuji without TC - there would have
been people spinning on the straight."
Ferrari Driver Felipe Massa has said, "In terms of safety, this is a big
step backwards. For sure, we will have more accidents and racing in wet
conditions will be very dangerous. I've spoken to Michael Schumacher
and several other drivers and they've told me it will be more dangerous
driving a car without TC now than in the past. Another race like Fuji
would be very dangerous."
David Coulthard commented on the subject: "At the end of the day, we all
want to race in wet conditions because it gives opportunities to the
smaller teams," said the Red Bull driver. "But you don't want to give
somebody an advantage because someone else has been hurt."
The concerns particularly revolve around the scenario of another wet
race like Fuji 2007, where several cars aquaplaned off the track, even
with traction control.
The current F1 engines have a very peaky power delivery, which it is
believed, will make controlling them more difficult than ever.
With the removal of traction control drivers will have to be very
careful with their rear tyres. Presently the drivers can are able to let
the electronics do some of the work. Drivers that have good throttle
control will fare better under the new regulations.
Traction control has been seen in F1 cars in various guises since the
1980s.
Nigel Mansell's championship winning-car, the 1992 Williams-Renault FW14,
featured a host of technical driver aids such as computerized active
suspension and traction control.
Traction control was first banned in 1993.
The Grand Prix of Spain 2001 saw the official reintroduction of traction
control systems to F1 due to the suspicion that teams were circumventing
the regulations by using sophisticated engine management systems.
It was considered very difficult to ensure that teams were not running
such systems and agreement was reached with the teams that the
regulations should be removed to promote a level playing field.
The latest rule change has been made possible with the introduction
of a standard ECU for the 2008 season. The FIA now have access to all
the data from any car so it would be much more difficult to hide such
systems. The new ECU, to be used by all cars, is produced by Microsoft in
collaboration with the McLaren race team.
The FIA's World Motor Sport Council brought in the new technical changes
in March 2007 after agreement was reached with all the teams.
Article 9.3, in particular, has been amended to include the following:
"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."
With the focus switching to the environment in future seasons, energy
recovery technologies are likely to be introduced. This may present
the opportunity for teams to effectively reintroduce traction control
systems back into the cars as the related electronic controls are
introduced.
