F1: The Attraction of Losing Traction

[Rory Phoulorie]

Monday 2nd April 2007

The news that traction control will no longer be a part of F1 from 2008 onwards will be well-received by the die-hard aficionados of the sport.

It will also go down well with the ageing F1 press room (Messrs Tremayne, Henry, Roebuck, Dodgins and Windsor) who all remember back to the days when Jim Clark finished races a whole week before everyone else - when men were men and F1 cars actually broke down most of the time.

A meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council last week approved the changes to the 2008 F1 Technical Regulations.

Article 9.3 of the new rulebook now reads: "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."

The introduction of a standard Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in 2008 has facilitated the change. Now, the engine management of every car on the grid will be a one-size-fits-all fix. It will mean that drivers will no longer be able to throw a car into a corner and let the TC sort it out. The TC will be very amused to see how the driver sorts it out.

It's welcome news for those who long-suspected that a grand prix driver's craft was getting more and more limited, but Williams' technical chief, Sam Michaels, believes it will have more effect on the drivers at the back of the grid than the ones at the front. However, like the imposition of a single tyre per race, it will make them think.

"There is full automation now so the drivers just go flat on the throttle," he told Autosport.com "No finesse is required right now, as electronics do everything for them."

Michael reckons that it will give an advantage to those drivers who have a good feel for their rear tyres and the wheel spin they're generating in races. A failure to control wheel spin will prematurely wear rear tyres and lose speed.

However the big impact will come when we get mixed or wet conditions at a race. That's when we will see who's a talent and who's been protected by the technology.

Alain Prost and Niki Lauda, two exceptional drivers and World Champions, have retired healthy cars in wet races because they just couldn't handle them and thought it too dangerous to continue. So if people with their pedigree find it tough...

Since traction control was "officially" reintroduced to F1 in 2001 the wet races we have had have been relatively carnage-free. No repeats of Spa 1998 when half the field collided on the way down to Eau Rouge thanks to the sparring DC and Eddie Irvine. That might all change in 2008.

In fact, should there be a massive and serious accident in the wet, there will certainly be calls to re-introduce it. Which should be resisted.

Nobody likes to see drivers hurt unnecessarily, but in the last ten years F1 has become considerably safer than almost any other form of motorsport. Three Day Eventing or professional cycling is considerably riskier than strapping yourself into an F1 cockpit these days.

The removal of traction control will make driver's ability far more transparent. The only pity is...we can't have it from Sepang onwards.

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3261_2034621,00.html

[Rory Phoulorie]

[Plex]

Losing the Traction control feature in these cars should make it interesting, we see who could really drive, but it was good to view them when there approaching the coners...Yr 2008 we see how this works.