The FIA International Court of Appeal Decision

wombat666

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FIA declares double diffusers legal <!-- end title -->

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</td> </tr> </tbody></table>The FIA International Court of Appeal has declared the double-decker diffuser designs used by Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams as legal.
Following overnight deliberation by the judges after a court hearing in Paris on Tuesday, the ICA has rejected the appeals lodged by Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Renault. BMW Sauber and McLaren had also entered the appeal as affected parties.
A statement issued by the FIA on Wednesday morning said: "The FIA International Court of Appeal has decided to deny the appeals submitted against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship.
"Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations."
The ICA's decision is a blow to those teams that did not pursue the design concept when they created their 2009 cars - as it is widely accepted that the double-decker diffusers have brought a performance advantage.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen suggested last week that the diffuser decision would be vital for the outcome of the world title - with his team likely to have to wait for several races before being able to fit a suitable one to their car.
"The FIA's Court of Appeal will decide about the diffuser and this decision will have an enormous impact on the championship," Raikkonen said.
"We're missing grip and downforce. You just need to analyse the performance in the three sectors at Sepang to understand that we're losing a lot compared to the best cars. You could see it especially in the middle sector where downforce is really crucial.
The row over the diffusers has also led to intense confrontation between the rival factions – with Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn being on the receiving end of attacks from Renault and Ferrari about his use of the diffuser concept.
However, he has stood firm in his belief that the design was legal – and confirmed recently that he offered rivals the chance to close off the regulations to prevent teams exploiting the diffuser designs, but they rejected the opportunity.
"In March 2008 that was offered," said Brawn, when asked by AUTOSPORT about the matter.
"If I'm frank I didn't say 'look we are going to do this diffuser if you don't accept this rule' because I'm not going to tell people what we're doing, but I explained that I felt that we should have a different set of rules to simplify what needs to be done.
"I offered them and they were rejected, so my conscience is very clear. And those rules that I put on the table would have stopped a lot of things. It would have stopped the diffuser, it would have stopped all those bargeboards around the front, and it would have cleaned the cars up.
"Because it was clear that when we started to work on the regulations that there were things that you could do, and we needed to perhaps clean them up, but nobody was interested. They are interested now."

What else could anyone expect?
:173go1:
 
Finally a sensible decision by the FIA that should put an end to this soap opera! :applause:

So good to see three midfield teams now upfront because they've read the rules very well and gained a few tenths with a relative simple & cheap solution, while all the rich teams focussed on the expensive KERS that brought them nothing so far! :d

BTW Should Red Bull have a similar diffusor ready within the next two races I think we should keep an eye on Vettel; he could win a couple of races this year.. :kilroy:
 
The problem with KERS is in the rules .....(which are ridiculous).....

What wasn't mentioned is that in the off season, either Ferrari or McLaren (I can't remember which one) went to the FIA with a diffuser question that the FIA said was illegal...

Guess what....When the season started, that question was then deemed legal by the FIA....

(This was mentioned in the SPEEDTV broadcasts at Australia)
 
Both Williams and Toyota consulted the FIA more than once during the development of their car and it was deemed legal several times; during scruteneering in both Australia and Malaysia all three cars were found legal again, so the FIA could hardly rule otherwise.

These teams exploited a gap in the rules, something that was overlooked by the other teams. The engineers working in F1 are some of the smartest around, and if the FIA didn't cover every loophole in the rules, well then they are to blame, not the teams exploiting these mistakes.
Seems Ross Brawn even warned the FIA last season about some of these holes!
 
These teams exploited a gap in the rules, something that was overlooked by the other teams. The engineers working in F1 are some of the smartest around, and if the FIA didn't cover every loophole in the rules, well then they are to blame, not the teams exploiting these mistakes.
Seems Ross Brawn even warned the FIA last season about some of these holes!

Let's say for sake a discussion, there is a gap/loophole that the other teams exploited.

Hasn't the FIA in the past changed the rules so that identified gaps/loopholes no longer existed? - And if so, then why didn't the FIA change rules this time around :ques:
 
Hey All,

I'm happy about this decision! Go Panasonic/Toyota!


"Hasn't the FIA in the past changed the rules so that identified gaps/loopholes no longer existed? - And if so, then why didn't the FIA change rules this time around"

Uh maybe cause like the France family not favoring Dodge/Ford/Toyota FIA didn't want to be seen favoring Ferrari/McLaren?

Or maybe they just wanted a KERS vs Diffuser series for a bit = till everyone is even up again with Ferrari/McLaren a bit out front.

I'm guessing Ferrari/McLaren isn't used to being outsmarted?

Now lets see what happens over the blatant effort to cheat in Australia.

-Ed-
 
Easy Ed...
Usually Ferrari got what they wanted - not McLaren.....

As far as KERS is concerned, the first 2 races have shown that KERS is pretty much useless with its added weight & under its current set of rules that dictate only 6 seconds of energy/use per lap

Note: I'm NOT a KERS fan either....
 
Hasn't the FIA in the past changed the rules so that identified gaps/loopholes no longer existed? - And if so, then why didn't the FIA change rules this time around :ques:

IMHO (and I'm NO Ross Brawn admirer!) changing rules during a season is idiotic, not that it hasn't happened before of course!

I've noted that certain 'EffWun Fan Boys' on another forum seem to think that bad publicity is better than no publicity ........ the last thing needed right now is bad publicity.

I agree, KERS is a ridiculous device, if the FIA wish to be seen as 'Green' then E85 would be a really good point to start.

One point about the whole diffuser debacle that really ticks me right off .....RBR have made a real effort to go for mechanical grip with rear suspension engineering instead of so-called aerodynamic grip, rather sad that proper engineering will be defeated by something as irrelevant as a trick diffuser.

:kilroy:
 
Over the last few years the FIA has only changed rules mid-season for safety reasons; anyone remember the Arrows in Monaco with the wing on top of the nose?

As for KERS, it seems Kubica will test it at the Chinese GP this weekend, while Ferrari are seriously considering removing it altogether.

Seems Newey cancelled his flight to Shanghai right after the court announced its decision and he went back to the factory to work on a new floor for the RB5. They expect to have it ready for Monaco. I'd say that Jenson better grab every point he can now, because I think Vettel could be his biggest challenger for the title the second half of the season..

I am somewhat of a Ros Brawn fan; a lot of Ferrari's success in the 'Schumi era' was due to his tactics and leadership. If you see how Ferrari has declined over the last two seasons..
I still remember a race in a very hot Magny-cours where Schumacher won using a four stop strategy (One stop more than the other teams did).
 
One point about the whole diffuser debacle that really ticks me right off .....RBR have made a real effort to go for mechanical grip with rear suspension engineering instead of so-called aerodynamic grip, rather sad that proper engineering will be defeated by something as irrelevant as a trick diffuser.

:kilroy:

Agreed....
 
Hey All,

One point about the whole diffuser debacle that really ticks me right off .....RBR have made a real effort to go for mechanical grip with rear suspension engineering instead of so-called aerodynamic grip, rather sad that proper engineering will be defeated by something as irrelevant as a trick diffuser.

I don't get this at all. Why is a redesigned diffuser that is within the rules not proper engineering? Is only aero grip proper? Color me baffled.

I see Ron Dennis is now gone from the racing side of McLaren. Good or bad and will it help with the upcoming "court" appearance? Is Mclaren just trying to save Hamilton's but?

-Ed-?
 
"Color me baffled".

Consider yourself suitably coloured mate!:jump:

1) The diffuser is not the problem if it has been ruled legal within the present regulations. My irritation comes from the use of so-called aerodynamic solutions which are irrelevant to open wheel racing cars and really have no benefit to road cars.
Formula 1 has long trumpeted how developements flow from competition through to production cars, while this once held a ring of truth, it is no longer so.

2) Adrian Newey designed a very elegant rear suspension for the '09 RBR entry, instead of following the pack with the 'standard' package.
His intention has been to increase machanical grip, and when you look at how well the RB5 handles, how well it puts power down, and how well the car brakes it seems to be working very well.

So, in answer to
"Is only aero grip proper?"
, IMHO, that would be a no.
Mechanical or aero, provided they are within the framework of the present regulations both are 'proper'.

However, again IMHO, the aerodynamic packages employed in F1 have no place on a motor vehicle, they belong on aircraft.

I've yet to find a serious volume production road car that
one can buy off the showroom floor with F1 style aero rubbish as an integral part of the design.
:faint:
 
Hey All,

I guess I’m still puzzled.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
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I can appreciate mechanical grip coming from suspension designs, driveline designs, precise application of power at the right time and similar kinds of things but if the irritation is from the use of aero solutions… Aren’t the body shape, diffuser, rear wing and front wing all aero solutions designed to minimize air resistance and improve downforce? I thought all cars manufactured had had this stuff considered to some degree or another.
<o:p> </o:p>
With respect to the RBR cars – Seems I read somewhere that changing the rear diffuser design to take advantage of the new diffuser rule would be difficult for one of the F1 teams because of the rear suspension design. Is that RBR? Is RBR the team the one most disadvantaged by the new diffuser rule?<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I've yet to find a serious volume production road car that
one can buy off the showroom floor with F1 style aero rubbish as an integral part of the design.
<o:p></o:p>
Absolutely right no production car I know of is a single-seater shaped like an F1 car with a front wing. F1 cars as well as many other race cars are pretty much completely irrelevant to production cars (should F1 be a production car based racing series?) although the technology involved may or may not be irrelevant.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
A couple examples. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Take my current favorite the new R35 Godzilla car – in the e-brochure for the car they specifically credit racing technology in their talk about a couple aero related items. 1) the aero coefficient of 0.27 (IIRC) being exceptionally low for a 4 seat sedan and they very specifically talk about the design of the underside of the car for cooling (brakes) and down force. Is it F1 technology or some other series – who knows?<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
I also have to harken back to the Daytona Charger of 1969 and the 1970 Plymouth – winged superbirds. Seems to me like that may have been F1 aero unless F1 borrowed the idea from NASCAR?<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Also seems like most cars today have a wing on em. How functional they all are I have no idea. Is there a realistic speed or some measure beyond which a wing matters? I’ve often wondered about this.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
However, again IMHO, the aerodynamic packages employed in F1 have no place on a motor vehicle, they belong on aircraft.
<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>
I have to disagree with this as I don’t think I want to fly in an airplane that has downforce as a major aero feature. :amen:<o:p></o:p>


-Ed-
 
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