British GP Talking Points

Blown diffusers – a full-blown argument or a load of hot air?

By the end of the Silverstone weekend my head was spinning with confusion from all the debate, counter debate and hyperbole surrounding blown diffusers. In a classic case of F1 shooting itself in the foot, the politics threatened to overshadow the racing, as well as other off-track events like the unveiling of the new Silverstone facilities and track layout.

In essence, before the Silverstone weekend the practice of off-throttle blowing of exhaust gases over the rear diffuser, which generates downforce, was outlawed. However, amid protests from some teams, notably Red Bull, various concessions were granted allowing a limited amount of exhaust blowing for Renault and Mercedes runners. This decision was then reversed again for Saturday, with Red Bull agreeing not to run the technology provided the rules were looked at again for the rest of the season.

But did the blown diffuser ban have an effect? Well, qualifying took place in ever-changing conditions (perhaps Bernie Ecclestone’s sprinklers were installed at the revamped Silverstone?) which made it hard to assess what difference it made. There were shock Q3 appearances for Paul Di Resta and Pastor Maldonado, who lined up an excellent 6th and 7th respectively, as well as problems for both Renaults which were way down the order in Q2. But at the front Red Bull locked out the front row again.

Come the race Red Bull initially showed their customary domination, albeit by a reduced margin from Alonso’s Ferrari who seemed capable of challenging them even before their pit stop problems. The one constant was that McLaren, whether by dint of the blown diffuser situation, the weather or simply an off weekend, were consistently off the pace of both Red Bull and Ferrari on both Saturday and Sunday.

How much the blown diffuser rule change played a part in this should be revealed in Germany, where blown diffusers are once again allowed. That’s right, after all the argument and washing of dirty linen in public, the rules essentially revert to exactly the way they were…

Who’d be a steward? ‘Our Nige’, for one

Once again the stewards had a busy weekend, although guest steward Nigel Mansell did find the time to also appear on the BBC’s coverage on both Saturday and Sunday and enjoy the dubious honour of being patronised by the childlike Jake Humphrey.

As well as the furore around the blown diffusers, there were a number of racing incidents for the stewards to debate. The first involved Michael Schumacher, who clumsily tagged the back of Kamui Kobayashi in the wet early part of the race. The veteran German was rightly given a 10 second penalty – the incident was entirely avoidable, and a drive through penalty was inappropriate as passing through the pit lane was actually just as quick as staying on the track at racing speed!

Kobayashi was the next to fall foul of the stewards, copping an identical penalty after almost colliding with Maldonado exiting the pits and running over a Force India air hose. Di Resta did surprisingly escape punishment though, after ending Sebastien Buemi’s race by colliding with the Toro Rosso in an incident similar to Schumacher’s.

Of course, no feature about the officials this season would be complete without mention of the most regular attendee in their office, Lewis Hamilton. On the final lap Felipe Massa made a bold attempt at a pass around the outside of the fuel-saving McLaren driver at the last corner, only for the Briton to respond by unceremoniously barging into the side of the Ferrari in a move usually reserved for touring car racing.

The Brazilian was then forced wide on the exit, meaning Hamilton was able to retain 4th place. Hamilton escaped a penalty for his typically uncompromising actions, which was probably the correct decision, and Massa sportingly chose not to moan about it at the end of the race.

Team Orders ‘Controversy’ – not this again…

After the race, controversy appeared to be stirred up (largely by the media) around Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel’s scrap at the end of the race, after Webber was told to “maintain the gap” to his German team mate.

To be fair to the Australian, he did maintain the gap, remaining glued to his team mate’s gearbox for the rest of the race and making a couple of attempts to overtake. This was clearly not how the message was meant to be interpreted, however, and after the race Christian Horner appeared slightly put out that Webber had disobeyed the team in trying to overtake Vettel.

Frankly, Red Bull telling Webber not to attack Vettel was a non-story. These sorts of team orders are completely routine in Formula 1, have been for years, and would no doubt have occurred at Red Bull earlier in the season had Webber been quick enough to challenge Vettel in previous races, or if Vettel had been behind Webber (neither of these scenarios has really panned out thus far).

The interesting element to the story was not the team orders themselves, but Webber’s admission that he had chosen to ignore Horner’s direct orders. This was somewhat out of character for the level-headed (but nonetheless straight-talking) Australian, and surely born of the sheer frustration he surely feels in being unable to match his team mate this season, particularly after his fabulous exploits last year.

Does it call into question Webber’s commitment to the team? Possibly. But if Webber having his front wing confiscated and given to Vettel at this same race last season wasn’t enough to make him leave the team, then a standard and, on balance, sensible call to try to avoid two team mates crashing into each other is hardly likely to tip him over the edge.