18/09/2014
NEWS STORY
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says he was the driving force behind the clampdown on radio communications between drivers and their teams.
Most of the new rules come in to effect this weekend though some have been held over until Suzuka.
Speaking ahead of the Singapore weekend, Ecclestone has claimed responsibility for the clampdown suggesting it was potentially holding up the sport to ridicule by taking away much of the mystique of the driver's role, going on to suggest that in time the ban could go even further.
"I was the one who started it off, yes," he told reporters. "The drivers are all happy it's gone. They drive the cars, they should know what's wrong and right."
Taking to Twitter yesterday, Nico Rosberg claimed that his simulator work, in preparation for the Russian Grand Prix, and carried out under the new radio rules, felt more "pure".
Ironically, the German's calls for "driving advice" in recent races is thought to have been one of the main reasons for the ban.
"They shouldn't have someone on the pit wall telling them what to do," said Ecclestone. "We have a regulation in force, 'drivers must drive the car alone and unaided'. They have been well and truly aided and still are, even if we get rid of this 'ship to shore', as I call it. There are still a lot of aids they shouldn't have."
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Chris Balfe