New radio limits will cause controversies – Wolff

2014 F1 season

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Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff expects the new limits on team radio in Formula One to cause controversy.

Formula One teams have been told they can no longer give their drivers any information that is related to their performance or their car’s. It remains to be seen exactly what types of messages will be permitted and which will be forbidden.

However Wolff predicted “we will now see less radio traffic” as a result of the FIA clamp-down.

“This is a complex and controversial decision which will require a significant effort from the teams to understand how best we can work around it,” he added.

“The directive is not yet fully clear and there will inevitably be some controversy, so it will need further clarification as to how much the essential on-track procedures will be affected – particularly before the start of the race.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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83 comments on “New radio limits will cause controversies – Wolff”

  1. What will be the punishment if the race engineer breaks this new rule?

    1. 2 poin tyre pressure every successfully decoded message

    2. The Blade Runner (@)
      12th September 2014, 11:31

      Three breaches and he gets moved to Marussia where, from the look of their guys, they get paid in pies…

    3. In an article the other day the FIA were quoted as saying that the stewards will have the full range of penalties available to them so I’d guess anything from a 5 second penalty right up to disqualification from the event.

      1. So that’ll be 5 seconds for Alonso and Rosberg and disqualification for Magnussen.

        1. And Perez sent to sit on the naughty step for a time-out…

    4. Punishment in the form of a false message, which may include:
      – Box, box, box!
      – Fernando is faster than you
      – We need to save the engine, stop the car, position mode 0 and stop the car

      1. @spoutnik

        I LOLed so hard my wife thought I was retarded

      2. Sshhhhh! @spoutnik don’t give Bernie ideas!

      3. Perhaps they can force the driver the listen to a single Iggy Azalea song on a loop for the rest of the race or something similarly annoying and enraging.

      4. Tell that to Kimi and stewards would get a mouthful of “I know what I’m doing”

  2. This will probably result in more encoded radio messaging between teams and drivers.

    1. I believed mercedes can afford 512 bit sound wave encryption technology.

    2. how con you encode a message without sounding, at least, suspicious?

      1. @matiascasali: Theoretically, you could use different ways of saying the same thing, for example “box next lap” instead of “pit next lap”. But this would give the drivers more to do and memorise, and if you start doing it every lap it will look suspicious.

    3. well today the FIA have said that encoded messages are banned too, so the teams have to be explicit with every communication.

  3. There is already controversy; not all teams currently have the large display. This could prove a major disadvantage. In my oppinion, rules shouldn’t be changed in-season.

    1. In my oppinion, rules shouldn’t be changed in-season.

      I agree. But, here’s the rub: They aren’t changing the rules. They are changing the interpretation of an existing rule*. This is allowed, without any agreement needed from the teams.

      * From another article on here:

      According to the FIA this will be imposed through a strict enforcement of Article 20.1 of the Sporting Regulations, which states: “The driver must drive the car alone and unaided.”

      1. Indeed, you are right. I believe it was pretty much the same situation when the interpretation on FRIC was changed. It’s not an actual rule chance, but is has the same effect on teams.

      2. I think that defining advice as a driving aid is playing fast and loose with word definitions. If that if what your quoted rule intends, it needs seriously rewriting.

    2. The issue of the display makes me wonder, again, why teams are not using HUDs or in-helmet displays to relay information. Such things are available for motorcyclists, at great cost, now. But cost is no object for the teams, not for this kind of thing. Nico would have to shut it off if he doesn’t want to know the gap behind him, of course.

      1. Or even the huge screen on the wheel.

    3. BTW what about the gear change lights on the steering wheel – are they not a driving aid too ?

      Of course the most effective way to ban driving information would be to ban radio messages altogether.

  4. Going to miss hearing “It’s Hammertime”

    1. Not going to miss:

      “Where am I losing, guys?”
      “Ok Lewis, you can brake a little later for turn 3, and you can carry more speed through turn 9”

      Instead it’ll be

      “Sorry Lewis, you’re gonna have to figure that out for yourself”

      Happy days!

      1. @mazdachris

        Nice try.

        Lewis always asks where he’s losing time and gets replies such as “2 tenths slower in sector 1”. Then he goes on and finds the time himself.

        Rosberg is the one who gets messages such as “brake later for turn 3”.

        1. no, lewis is the one that asks those questions most.

      2. I’m going to miss: (from hungary)

        Nico “some advice guys….”
        Team: “on traffic?”
        Nico: “no, on driving…”

      3. Or

        So Nico looks like you locked front and rears together there.

        Try an earlier apex in turn 11, Parabolica. Try and open the steering on exit for scrubbing.

        All cars are getting degradation like yourself.

    2. I will miss it. Every time I hear that phrase from the pits, I desperately want Hamilton to key the radio and say “can’t touch this!”

      As for how this will play out for MB, the most prolific users of “driving advice,” I agree that it may harm Rosberg more. Hamilton is usually just asking, where is the time. He did the same thing at McLaren. He would be told, e.g., sector 1, and usually, he finds the time. Rosberg is the one getting curious advice like, slow in and fast out.

      In Rosberg’s favor, or as an explanation, what I think is going on here is that Rosberg still has not figured out Hamilton’s trick of coasting into corners but braking later, while turning faster or the same lap times. If you noticed the display in Monza, Hamilton was ahead of Rosberg on fuel in the closing phases, despite the fact that Hamilton had battled back from 4th and (and did not save a few pints of gas by coasting through the run off a couple times). Further, it was Nico being told to do the “Hoagys.” I think Nico is still trying to figure out the formula of how to get to the apex in the same time as Hamilton but use less fuel.

      And since the team aims to be transparent, Hamilton is being told what Rosberg’s adjustments to line and braking are. Honestly I don’t think Hamilton is too interested in what line Rosberg is taking into corner X as a driving tip (or vice versa). He wants to know whether Rosberg is doing something, on the team’s advice, that will yield his opposition better charging or fuel consumption performance.

      1. the difference in fuel usage is through the turns and in braking. some drivers ride the throttle while braking, while others totally lift off and brake. it is just a difference in driving technique- some drivers ride the throttle more then others, it is just a feel thing (as it is left foot braking for every driver now in F1). fuel consumption is mostly a non issues, with the controlled fuel flow rate limiter essentially making sure every driver will reach the end, they can never use too much fuel as they will pass the fuel flow rate (like Ricciardo did in Australia), the drivers will always get to the finish line (every driver has this year) – whether one driver has half a litre more at the finish line is practically irrelevant. That stupid graph the FIA is showing in races is irrelevant, all it shows is that difference drivers have different throttle application rates – it does not show that one teammate is faster over another, that is an incorrect correlation – you can be faster or slower and still use more fuel then your teammate.

        1. ps, I meant riding the brake while applying throttle.

        2. So that’s why they told Nico:
          “We will need some Hoagys for fuel to the end.”
          “So it’s going to be important to look after these tyres to be able to attack at the end, Nico. Save a bit of fuel when we can and attack at the end.”

          Nico was told to save fuel twice when Hamilton was never told such a thing.

      2. @dmw I don’t believe one can make judgements such as you have on which driver gets more advice on the other’s performance or which driver benefits from said advice moreso, when as armchair fans we only get to hear FIA-selected comms and we have no idea what is being discussed in person in the garages. I think on average LH has been a bit faster all things considered, and for all we know it is because of things he’s picked up from NR. Not saying that is the case, just saying we have no way of knowing.

  5. Now that the new (team radio) rule is enforced are we going to hear coded messages like the ones we’ve heard in a BBC television sitcom “Allo Allo!” ?
    For example: “Has old mother Hubbard got together with Miss Muffet and Little Boy Blue?” (meaning “Are the airmen inside the prisoner of war camp?”)

  6. My website (click my name) is all about Readable Ciphertext where coded messages act as plaintext but have another inner meaning 5 levels down the multi-layer encryption chain.
    The book with this magic text as other calls is called “The Readable” or “Al-Quran” in Arabic.
    It is built using prime numbers and that’s why Michael Schumacher (and many of us) subconsciously love prime numbers.

  7. sooo what’s stopping them using a code for break temps and whatnots… they can’t force them to NOT talking about donuts being to cold can they?

  8. No coded messages will be allowed either.
    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115824

    Looking back at Monza, Hamilton had that Start mode glitch at the start. Under these new restrictions on radio I wonder if he’d have been stuck or if that would be a situation he could receive assistance with to alter some settings to fix it?

    I still don’t really know if I like this change or not as to be honest it never really bothered me & what we have ended up with seems badly thought out, Rushed through & actually I think has gone a bit too far with whats no longer allowed & I fear it could have a negative effect on the racing (Drivers been overly cautious not having as accurate a read on fuel levels & tyre condition).

    We’ll see how it goes over the next races but I just hope that it doesn’t have much of an impact & does not end up been a deciding factor in the championship with drivers hitting trouble & having to come into the pits to get instructions on the fix or just having to stop due to not been able to make it to the pits.

    I also hope that we don’t see more problems at the start as there was a lot of settings & stuff to alter after the initial practice start on the formation lap.

    1. Under these new restrictions on radio I wonder if he’d have been stuck or if that would be a situation he could receive assistance with to alter some settings to fix it?

      Actually, that’s a definite concern.

      Will the engineers be able to talk the drivers through the (often incredibly complex) reset procedures required to work around or fix a software glitch? Or will the drivers need to become software engineers as well?

      It certainly would seem unfair that a software glitch which could be fixed by turning a few dials could kill someone’s race. Maybe the teams will need to implement new software to make the resets easier, or set up instructions for the procedures which would be displayed on the screen.

      It all seems barking to me.

    2. The driver should be allowed to report car malfunctions.

      Not like the team actually did anything to remedy the situation though. He told them it was broken on the parade lap, but they did nothing to fix it and it failed for the actual start again.

  9. A stupid decision. As a result, teams will encode their messages even more. Then FIA will have to decide if they ban all kind of messages, which may result in attempting against safety rules, or revoke the first banning decision. An absurd waste of time and effort. The same happened with the instructions inside the team. They were free, then were not, and now is up to the team. So, is this good for F1? Will this improve F1 driving? I really don’t think so. But then, we’ll have double points, safety standing restarts, etc. Nothing new there.

  10. Whats stopping the drivers and team from just speaking in code?

  11. (From Autosport article)
    Allowed

    – Telling a driver when he is allowed to or meant to stop for new tyres

    – Team orders in terms of overtaking or letting a team-mate past

    – Warning a driver about the traffic situation during qualifying and the race

    – Safety warning relating to yellow flags or dangerous situations on the track

    Not allowed

    – Informing a driver to change any settings on his car to improve its performance

    – Informing a driver about his fuel consumption and how to manage his pace

    – Informing a driver about his own performance in sectors and where he can improve

    – Informing a driver about the condition or state of his tyres

    – Informing a driver how best to approach the formation lap or setting changes to make better start

    I say this is Insanely big joke

    1. Sounds good to me!

      Basically, know your vehicle and race your race which is what all good racing drivers should be able to do. There is nothing in the ‘NOT ALLOWED’ list that I think the driver shouldn’t be able to manage on his own.

      1. @asanator
        I agree but Fuel usage is the one i disagree which is why i felt Joke.
        Some teams doesn’t have advanced Steering Wheel Display which will hurt Their Drivers , so FIA needs to look into that

        1. I disagree about fuel usage, if anything it should be the easiest to convey to the driver. It is just a +/- target graphic. It is unfortunate about the teams with smaller/no screens on the wheel, but it shouldn’t be too hard for them to rig something up.

          I am a bit concerned that the spec McLaren management unit may not be designed to do some of this on board display stuff though. They can’t add electronics to the cars can they? I thought that was the point of it, it all has to go through the ecu I think.

          1. Is there anything preventing the teams from fitting a display along the cockpit edge to the left and right of the steering wheel? That would give two places for a one inch by 5inch(?) display with temps or fuel usage.

          2. The FIA actually said that they should simply display all information in the car. So yeah that would be allowed.

            As long as it’s not an advice on how to drive I guess. Although a low fuel warning technically instruct the driver to do something about that too.

      2. This idea that the driver should just know or feel the car completely is antiquated nonsense. This is not the 70s. The operational condition and adjustment of the car has not been fully in the driver’s view or control since the 80s. This idea that we can go back to some “pure” era is desperate nostalgia, and clashes with the essence of what F1 has been for a generation. They cars are not designed to operate under these new rules, and even those people desperate for some sepia-toned past will see the light once we start seeing some clearly avoidable failures that ruin races, you know, what people tune in to see. When team can’t tell a driver to change his brake bias to respond to overheating, and the brakes fail, this rule will be over.

        1. Excellent comment. I agree completely. +1

        2. They can show on the dashboard or steering wheel that the brakes are overheating. The driver then can take care of it himself.

          It’s more dangerous than when the team informs him on the radio, but safety is no longer a concern apparently. Everything for “the show”.

  12. to me this is silly. F1 is a team sport not just about the driver and we should appreciate it for what it has become! I love F1 because its a strategic chess game with multi million pound pieces and the drivers are out there to implement the optimum strategy based on live telemetry. Team radio gives an extra dimension in how the driver and his engineers optimise the performance for the best result again based on live telemetry and strategy computers. Those regulations are pre-Pirelli and pre-hybrid engines with multiple engine maps and recovery systems . If they want drivers to appear as gladiators then just ban all telemetry get rid of degrading tyres that need constant monitoring based on complex tyre models have one engine map (Hammertime) and let them loose.

  13. This really feels like FIA are trying to do everything to sabotage Lewis chance of winning this championship

    1. Disagree, this helps the more talented drivers. I see rosberg and massa losing the most they seem to require more managing than most.
      And drivers don’t get cautious they race hard, the pit walls are the ones who want them to slow down manage pace etc. This will make for better racing because the strategy and race engineers will have les of an impact.

    2. I disagree. This is going to benefit natural racers like Lewis. Rosberg, Vettel will infact be most disadvantaged.

      1. The systems are not designed for direct driver interaction in all cases hence it will be a huge distraction for the drivers. You want to read the display continously at Monaco?
        The teams will be forced to come up with more automated systems and more easily decypherable error and reset modes.
        Especially for the advanced systems they deploy for power unit management, it is too sudden to rely on the drivers, the engineers are still learning about the systems and it takes several engineers to sometimes correctly diagnose and fix a problem.

      2. You’re right – naturally talented racers such as Alonso, Hamilton, perhaps Hulkenberg, and Button (because of his fluid driving style and long experience) will not have as hard of a time as someone like Rosberg, Vettel and especially Massa who need a lot of coaching and help from the team.

  14. What is to keep the teams from implementing a HUD or an “electronic gauge” on the dash to provide relevant feedback to the driver? Say, like tire pressure warning or check engine “idiot light” on a road car only taken to the next level.

  15. Are there any rules to stop teams from encrypting radio communication between the pitwall and driver?
    What regulations allow unencrypted access to the radio communications?

    I’m basically wondering if it would be possible for team to encrypt their radio comms and then provide the FIA and FOM the encrypted version, without telling them how to decrypt it.

    1. I believe there must be, due to the fact that teams aren’t doing it already.

      There would be an advantage in doing so, as there would be no chance of FOM playing a sensitive message on air and giving their strategy away. Knowing how simple it would be, it is obviously not allowed.

    2. They used to be able to encrypt radio traffic but now everything must be open & everything is now available & monitored by both the FIA & FOM.

  16. This is all about having a free for all between the Merc drivers. Mercedes are doing their best to ensure a level playing field over engine settings etc. They’ll no longer be able to control what each driver does other than tyre strategy. The FIA will be hoping Lewis and Nico can screw up their races by wrecking their PUs, tyres, running out of fuel, creating controvesy by using “not to be used” engine maps. It’s all about creating a show. It’s not enough for us die hard fans to enjoy the great wheel to wheel stuff we’ve had this year, they ( FIA FOM ) need to keep the soap opera alive for the casual viewers, and provide enough crap to keep the jurnos in a job.

    1. The maps are controlled by software, so to select them they have to turn the dial which will tell the computer what map to select. If Merc. doesn’t trust the drivers not to use a setting all they have to do is disable that map on the software therefore even if a driver selects it it will just revert to the highest allowed map :)

    2. I won’t say it’s an anti-MB conspiracy. But I’m sure that the rule makers considered that, in a season with a strongly dominant team, more chaos will “improve the show.” And it’s chaos that the rule will bring.

      1. Yep. It’s not anti MB move . Just that they want to ‘spice up’ ‘the show’ . I am sick of these words. Can some one tell them that too much ‘spice’ can lead to ‘acidity’.

    3. COTD . That’s what they are doing. The monsters !

  17. What’s to stop them from using the pit boards to issue instructions instead? That’s a not a radio message?

  18. There’s probably a way to do this “correctly”, which would be to create a handful of preformatted messages that race engineers can use. So, if an engineer sends the “pit next lap” message, they just select “message 5” and the driver hears “pit next lap” in a consistently formatted way. Then you’d get logs sending the timing of those messages, and while you could theoretically encode messages in slight delays and such with the timing of those messages, I think that’d be about as secure a system as anyone can manage.

    While I *totally* support the idea behind getting the *driver* to do the driving, I think this is a really poorly thought out rule change. What they should do is essentially disable real-time telemetry. You can keep it for analysis post-race, but aside from a handful of critical engine parameters and other safety-specific issues, you’re not allowed to monitor anything else on the car. If the car needs to be rebooted, tough luck, you’re out.

    1. One note, for clarity – what I’m suggesting is that ALL teams use the EXACT SAME audio clips. So everyone would hear “Pit next lap” in Siri-voice, or whatever they’d choose. So they’re not just preformatted things the engineer can read in varying inflections – sending these messages would essentially be hitting a button fire-and-forget style.

    2. I think your idea is a good solution, but I still don’t see what the problem is with real time telemetry, or what the problem is with allowing the engineers to communicate with the drivers in any way they want. Formula 1 is a team sport, an important part of a team sport is the ability to communicate with members of the team.

  19. Will they be allowed to use more information on the pit boards?

  20. This is the lastest stupid ruling from the FIA, f1 is a team sport, the drivers and engineers work together to get the car to the end of the race in the shortest time. This season the cars are significantly more complex than ever before and they do this! It’s 2014 not the 60s!

  21. It’s way overdue. Teams have taken the lazy way out and instead of building in a driver oriented information system, have relied on this irritating driver ‘coaching’ from the pit wall. I would have gone further and banned ALL radio comms and insisted on pit board comms only.

  22. Simplify everything, cut the telemetry in race.

  23. Wonder how long it’s gonna take this generation of F1 masterminds to think of a pitboard.

    1. I presume that you are not aware that pit boards are still in use at every single team? Besides, the FIA have made it clear that pit boards are also being targeted, along with any other form of communication that would allow the pit wall to transmit information to the driver.

  24. Dan has been a revelation. As an Aussie even I never expected 3 wins this year. What’s impressive is his ability to nurse the tyres and overtake when the car is down on power. He’s also doing what Webber couldn’t do consistently- overtake and beat his teammate in a race. Vettel is still an incredible driver when the car is to his liking which under these regulations it’s not. He is coming up to speed and can never be written off.

  25. You can’t do this mid-season, it’s insane. The cars we’re not designed to be automous this season. I feel this is way too far for a mid season rule change. What forced this so suddenly?
    You add massively complex propulsion systems designed with complex software and hardware at great expense to them teams, then change the rules without notice. It’s very wrong and has just ruined the vaildity of the championship whoever wins imo.
    I agree completely that we need to go back to drivers and their machine but mid-season, no way. The machines were simply not designed to act alone. Only the richest teams can create the best at short notice, so I feel so very sorry for the small teams and their drivers. Can they implement the hundreds of thousands of lines of code required to aid the drivers automatically as they were before to keep these machines alive, let alone compete at the top?
    Frankly I’m appalled at the FIA for doing this mid-season. Something else must be the motivating factor surely?

  26. I dont think its a rule change ,
    Its just fia starting to enforce it ,
    By the wording of the rule , article 20.1 im guessing its been there a while ,

  27. Reminds me the episode in Catch-22:

    “Who was it?” asked General Peckem.
    “I don’t know,” Colonel Cargill replied.
    “What did he want?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Well, what did he say?”
    ” ‘T. S. Eliot’,” Colonel Cargill informed him.
    “What’s that?”
    “‘T. S. Eliot’,” Colonel Cargill repeated.
    “Just ‘T. S. -“‘
    “Yes, sir. That’s all he said. Just ‘T. S. Eliot’.”
    “I wonder what it means,” General Peckem reflected. Colonel Cargill wondered, too.
    “T. S. Eliot,” General Peckem mused.
    “T. S. Eliot,” Colonel Cargill echoed with the same funereal puzzlement.

      1. Also I suggest them using Hungarian Phrasebook from Monty Python, episode 25:

        My hovercraft is full of eels
        Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya! Do you waaaaant… to come back to my place, bouncy bouncy?
        You great poof.
        If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me? I… I am no longer infected.
        Drop your panties, Sir William, I cannot wait ’til lunchtime.
        My nipples explode with delight!

        http://www.montypython.net/scripts/phrasebk.php

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