The FIA’s technical delegate Charlie Whiting has given McLaren and Ferrari’s exhausts the all clear, after some teams raised concerns that they pushed the regulations a little too far.
With the ban on blown-diffusers coming into effect for 2012, the new cars must have exhausts which exit at the top of the chassis. In an attempt to gain the lost downforce from the blown-diffuser, McLaren and Ferrari in particular, have fitted aggressive systems to their cars which clearly show the exhausts exiting downwards, rather than up as is the case with most, allowing them to blow specific areas of the car.
Whiting, who advises teams on the legality of their designs, flew out to Jerez on Thursday to inspect the cars, but ultimately found them to abide by the regulations, according to SkySports Ted Kravitz.
“I understand from sources in the pitlane that FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting has told the teams that he considers Ferrari and McLaren exhaust designs as legal.
“Even though the way those two teams have packaged their exhaust outlets, with channels leading exhaust gases out to specific areas of the car and therefore appearing to have a beneficial aero effect, which is against new exhaust regulations, it seems Whiting believes that they comply sufficiently with both the letter and the intention of the law.”
Other teams will now likely follow suit and package their exhausts differently in order to gain a performance advantage, with the final test in Barcelona the most likely location for their debuts.
