Teams agree to ban f-ducts

[David]

Not a great fan of f-ducts on F1 cars. I personally don't like how the cars look with the engine cover connected to the rear wing. Probably not safe what with the no handed driving and all. 

Following more meetings in Barcelona, Formula 1's team have made the unanimous decision to ban the f-duct device from the 2011 season onwards. The radical feature, first introduced by McLaren, allows drivers to stall air to their car's rear wing and therefore allow greater straight-line speeds.
With the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) having gathered in the Circuit de Catalunya paddock, it is believed that McLaren was against outlawing the f-duct - since introduced by Sauber, Williams and Ferrari as well - although teams did eventually reach the decision universally courtesy of a voting process.
Using an air vent which is located on the top of the car's monocoque, drivers are able to cover a hole (with their knee, in McLaren's case or with the back of their hand, in Ferrari's case) in order to decrease the amount of air which travels to the rear wing, meaning that there is less downforce and therefore higher top speeds on straights.
As there is no moving mechanical part necessary, the device is legal under the current FIA technical regulations but will disappear once the current campaign comes to an end.

[Jericoke]

Innovation bad!   

Procession race good!   

What is FOTA thinking?  I can understand teams being upset that McLaren had it first, and it's expensive and difficult to innovate during the season, but that wouldn't stop anyone from perfecting it over the winter.  It also doesn't prevent someone from coming up with some other brilliant idea for 2011 that everyone else hates, and grudgingly copies.

F1 is coming dangerously close to handing the championship to the team who comes up with the craziest idea unveiled at the first race of the season.

[John S]

I think it was inevitable that the F-Duct would get the boot, it has been quite usual to allow new innovations that are taking development off at a tangent to remain for one season and then be banned. It allows the team that dreamed up the idea to have an advantage but then, when everyone has caught up and made it a status quo again, the loophole is closed. This will not prevent the engineers in the teams dreaming up new things, all it prevents is expenditure on things that have had their performance levelled out by being available to all.

It's quite exciting wondering what the next off the wall 'big idea' will be and which team will spring it. 

 

[Williamsfan]

The only problem with the cost saving argument is that the team's will all have spent vast sums of money developing the concept this season in a bid to 'keep up' but it will all prove to be wasted as next season it will be banned.  If they let it go for a whole season, they should let it go for longer, to me it totally defeats the concept of cost saving as the money has already been spent, and I am sure some teams would have already incorporated the idea into their 2011 designs.