16/03/2005
NEWS STORY
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Long before the season had begun, Pitpass warned that someone, somewhere, would take advantage of a loophole in the new engine regulations, whereby a car that didn't finish a race could use a new engine at the next event without penalty.
As we have seen in the past, it was clearly one of those rules that reads well, but is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to police.
Now, in the wake of BAR's actions in Melbourne, the FIA has acted and attempted to close the loophole, but what happens to the Brackley team?
When the two BARs pulled into the pits on their last lap in Melbourne, it was crystal clear what was happening.
Moments after the race had ended, Jenson Button looked positively embarrassed when asked by a TV reporter what had happened, and whether his team had cheated. The English driver was unable to answer and shuffled nervously on his feet.
Then, just moments later, team boss, Nick Fry, publicly admitted that his team had exploited the loophole and would therefore begin the Malaysia weekend with fresh engines.
That was the start of it.
Ever since, there has been a constant rumbling, culminating in (team co-owner) Honda's arch rival Toyota claiming (in its Malaysia GP preview) that BAR had gone against the spirit of the regulations.
"There has been a lot of controversy surrounding loopholes in the new engine rules," said the team's (engine) technical director, Luca Marmorini, "but exploitation of such grey areas is against our understanding of racing.
"Even though our drivers did not score any points in the last race, we decided to pass the chequered flag out of respect for the new rules," he added. "We fully accept the spirit and intention of the 2005 engine regulation and we believe that if we are to challenge for points regularly, we must finish the race and that means having an engine to last two races."
While, Renault's executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, is also critical of the 'exploitation' of the rules: "The ideal of running an engine for two weekends is a good one," he said. "But the loophole that has been left, of being able to change the engine if you do not take the flag, is ridiculous.
"To change the engine in the event of it being damaged in an accident, or failing, without incurring an additional penalty, seems to me reasonable," he added. "But otherwise, teams should keep the engine for a second weekend. A simple change to the interpretation of the existing wording of the regulations would suffice, but the loophole will continue to be exploited until it is closed."
This public attack has clearly had an effect and consequently the FIA has now issued a press release which attempts to clarify the situation.
There is talk that both BAR drivers could lose ten grid places in Malaysia, but that may not be the end of the matter.
What happened in Melbourne could have an effect in Malaysia and beyond, indeed we hear talk of official protests and the involvement of race stewards. Losing ten grid places may well be the least of BAR's worries.
It is now unlikely that other teams will attempt to use new engines this weekend - though BMW had suggested that Nick Heidfeld might - while Ferrari is also believed to be putting a new power-plant in the back of Michael Schumacher's F2004M.
Seeing as neither of these drivers retired directly as a result of engine problems, sceptics might claim that they are (effectively) doing the same as BAR. However, what is at issue here is that the Brackley team - in making the move on the final lap - was blatant in its exploitation of the loophole, with some F1 insiders claiming that (potentially) it was as damaging as Ferrari's manufactured result in Austria in 2002.