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[h=2]F1: Vettel slams 'joke' radio rules as 'bulls***'[/h] Thursday, 21 July 2016


Racer Staff
Sebastian Vettel has hit out at the FIA's decision to further tighten the restrictions surrounding radio communication in Formula 1.
Following Nico Rosberg's penalty for instructions he was given by Mercedes to solve a gearbox problem during the British Grand Prix, the FIA has issued a further technical directive to all the teams ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix highlighting the changes.
Asked by Autosport what he thought of the regulations in place for this weekend, Vettel replied: "Complete bulls***! All the radio issues we have are a joke.


"I looked at the race after and I found, as a spectator, it was quite entertaining to hear a driver panicking a little bit on the radio, and the team panicking at the same time. It puts the element of human being into our sport that arguably is very complicated and technical.
"We're going a little bit in the wrong way, and that's why it's bad and we should just go back to being able to say what we want."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton feels the FIA directive "makes it hopefully clearer for the team."
Hamilton suffered because of the radio ban in Baku when his car was in the wrong engine mode, but he said he "would've lost just as much time" if he had come into the pits to solve it.
"I can't remember how much time I lost in that race," he said. "It was 13, 15 seconds or something like that, which I would've lost in the pit lane anyway. Even if I say I don't like it, it's going to stay the same, so the best way is to deal with it. We're all in the same boat."
Williams's Valtteri Bottas has suggested driving through the pit lane is more of a punishment than staying out on track and exchanging messages, if Rosberg's Silverstone penalty is anything to go by.
"Nico got only a 10-second penalty for multiple advices, so I would guess staying on the track and taking a penalty is less of a penalty than coming into the pit lane for advice," said Bottas. "Unless they [the FIA] are going to change the rule as to how big a penalty they will give you for being on the track, then I don't see the point in coming into the pits."
Haas driver Romain Grosjean added: "We're racing drivers. You don't want to get a 2,000-page manual in the car when you're driving. If there is a problem you cannot solve, or a technical problem, you come into the pit lane and you can talk and do your stuff and do a pit stop and then you can go again.
"It doesn't take away the spicy things they want in racing, that you cannot be told that you have a problem. You have to come into the pit lane and therefore the race will be mixed up."

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F1: Restrictions on radio messages lifted


Racer Staff
Formula 1 has opted to lift its controversial ban on radio transmissions with immediate effect.
The decision has been taken following Thursday's meeting of the Strategy Group in Geneva, receiving unanimous support from FIA president Jean Todt, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the six teams involved: Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Williams and Force India.
Ecclestone told Autosport: "We've decided to open up radio communication again. "Everyone will again be able to say what they want."
Asked whether that would be from this weekend's German Grand Prix, Ecclestone replied: "Yes."
Autosport understands there will still be restrictions in place on the formation lap and that drivers cannot be passed information about clutch-bite points and mapping ahead of the race start.
The restrictions were introduced by the FIA at the start of the season, and tightened up ahead of the last race in Hungary. But when Jenson Button was penalized for receiving a message from McLaren despite an impending brake failure in the Hungaroring race, widespread condemnation followed.
Button slated the regulations as "stupid" and "a joke," suggesting F1 "has a long way to go before it's good again."
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene and Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner also declared a number of regulations to be overcomplicated, and that common sense needed to be applied.
Ecclestone also declared the lack of radio traffic was "not good for the show" when it came to the television audience.
A statement from the FIA read: "At the request of the teams and the commercial rights holder, the FIA has agreed to adopt a more liberal approach to the interpretation of article 27.1 (that a driver must drive the car alone and unaided).
"With the exception of the period between the start of the formation lap and the start of the race, there will be no limitations on messages teams send to their drivers either by radio or pit board.
"This approach is aimed at providing improved content for fans and spectators, as teams will now be required to provide the commercial rights holder with unrestricted access to their radio messages at all times their cars are out of the garage."