Quote "Ferrari have been using legal Traction enhancement"

[Billy_Hunt]

A combination of quite a bit of free time at work and a couple of nice looking articles I bought my self F1 Racing this week .
I went straight to the article entitled Traction Control Preview It's back but what will it mean ,there was nothing really enlightening in it, nothing that hasn't been mentioned within these walls anyway,but to hear some of the comment's coming from a magazine which is circulated world wide was a bit surprising.
Mainly
"this year Ferrari have been using legal Traction enhancement .
It was Ferrari's Jean Todt who led the move to delay reintroduction until Spain why ?
Over the winter the Maranello techies discovered a legal loop-hole in the gearbox electronics regs which gave them a traction advantage .
It will evaporate in Spain , but that still gave them four races in which to capitalise on their edge."

I know these points have been argued here before but to see this in black and white surely gives it a bit more clout.
If it isn't true surely the magazine would have been sued by now .

[Tristan]

The only word in that quote that needs any attention is the word "legal". Williams have CERTAINLY run a si ilar system since Brazil, although the legality of THEIR system has recently been called into question. It's all about the (now) old question "What is TC??". When does engine mapping and/or "legal traction enhancement" become the naughty, naughty Traction CONTROL??

[Liz]

This is like Bill Clinton saying it all depends on what the word "is" means, and Al Gore's "there is no controlling legal authority that said I couldn't do it".

We cynics call it "lawyering", that is, trying to skate as close to lying, cheating and stealing as you can without actually putting yourself in contempt of court.

The idea that something can be morally wrong and dishonorable seems to have gone right out of fashion in some quarters.

I suppose this is what is meant by "absolute power corrupts absolutely."

But in light of Albereto's death, it all seems pretty much small potatoes, doesn't it?

[Damon]

This is such a tough topic to call. I have no doubt as to the reason why Ferrari wanted the delay and I am also sure that Williams have discovered the same 'loophole' that ferrari discovered during the winter, hence the sudden gain in performance. Trouble is after Spain we'll all have to stop debating it. oh well, bring on Spain.

[FormulaMag]

if it is true it should be interesting to see how far Ferrari are behind this weekend seeing they don't have their advantage of "legal tc". Maybe thats why Ferrari have been so bad in the last 2 races because they stopped using it.....hmm.

[laxman]

Well,the 'fact' that ferrari have been using a Tc system from the beginning of this season will give them an advantage over the other teams rather that pull them down.Its quite easy to design a tc system,But its damn difficult to design the best one in the grid.Moreover according to the present weather forcasts,rain is expected this weekend.This will be a real test for the TC.Even small amounts of aquaplaning will be very dificult for the tc to handle.Infact,i believe the good teams will be running a different Tc for wet and dry races.

....and watch out for overtakig moves out of corners. ordinary tc systems will try to totally eliminate wheelspin(which is next to impossible in the rain).SO you will have some cars pulling out of corners fast whereas some slowing quite a lot for no apparent reason.

[Billy_Hunt]

From what I've heard there is so many different variables that can be set in the software that for the teams to try and totally cut wheelspin during a wet race sounds unlikely it will be a fine balance between power and traction no doubt the teams have already played around to find the sweet spot.
So I suppose this will be the difference between good TC and bad, come Sunday we will know which team has which.

[RWC]

Yes, i agree.There will be a good traction controls and average ones-it really depends how much work they can afford to put in .That ferrari article was silly wasn't it?Sure they have TC, but not like that!

[riusnow]

Yes the FIA made a rule to control gearchange times.
Yes Ferrari found a way to shift faster.
Yes Ferrari is still in the correct time.
Shame on Ferrari for following the rules.

[Liz]

And Clinton didn't inhale ... and what he did with Monica wsn't sex ... and there was no "controlling legal authority" that prevented Al Gore from taking illegal contributions laundered through a Buddhist Temple ...

You're lawyering in favour of Ferrari and it all makes me tired. There are two ways to win - with honour and without. Both count the same number of points, but they don't count the same.

We will see in Spain.

[slicktoast]

Honor! What honor? We don't need no honor! We don't need no steeenking honor!

[eatapc]

Originally posted by Liz
There are two ways to win - with honour and without. Both count the same number of points, but they don't count the same. We will see in Spain.

These stories about "legal" traction control and "loopholes" in the rules come from Ferrari sources, and they're a smokescreen (not of the tobacco variety, so don't inhale). It gives everyone, particularly the FIA, "plausible deniability," in that it offers up a rationale for the astounding superiority of Ferrari in the first two races, and for the fact the Ferrari won't be making a performance leap now that traction control is in and gear changing is out. Ferrari's press release says that they expect an improvement of no more than .2 seconds per lap -- which could be attributable to auto shifting alone -- and that their drivers have the option to disable traction control entirely, seeing as how it has so little effect. (Hmmm, just like it was disabled in races 3 and 4, and we saw how well Ferrari did in those contests.)

The real championship season starts now. Depending on the results at the end of the year, there may have to be an asterisk in the record book.

[angst]

Doesn't this mean that TGF owes Heinz-Harald Frentzen an apology? He accused Heinz of bringing the sport into disrepute, of making the FIA look stupid by talking about something which he denied they were using, which it turns out they were.
Why all the smokescreens, inconsistencies and backtracking on this issue?

[Liz]

Its the Bill Clinton Defence System. And Frenzy better not hold his breath waiting for an apology. He may get one after TGF retires and writes his autobiography, but not any sooner.

[Minardi fan]

Frenzy will just take satisfaction from knowing he was right.