20/06/2016
NEWS STORY
Following issues during the Grand Prix of Europe, drivers have called for a re-think on the ban on radio communications.
The ban was introduced following negative reaction from fans when it appeared that engineers were having more input to the driving of the car than the superstar in the hot seat.
Along with the "conserve fuel" and "protect your tyres" calls, which many believed presented a negative image for the so-called pinnacle of motor sport, others were unhappy at drivers being advised on strategy and tactics, sometimes on a lap by lap, corner by corner basis.
However, as witnessed yesterday, the ban, which allows a number of exceptions mostly related to safety, is impacting performance, and in certain cases, such as a driver spending more time looking at the numerous warning lights on his dashboard than what is happening around him, could lead to accidents.
"D-rates everywhere, surely this isn't helping," called out Hamilton as he suffered an engine mode error. "Is there no solution?"
Told the team was working on it, Hamilton continued: "You guys need to pick up the pace."
"The problem appears to be with the current mode that you are in," Hamilton's engineer Pete Bonnington advised the Briton.
"I don't know what you mean," said the world champion. "I don't know what's wrong. This is ridiculous guys. I don't know, I'm looking at my fricking dash every five seconds trying to find the switch in the wrong position."
"It's nothing you're doing wrong," he was told, "just a setting that's incorrect."
"I might not finish the race," warned Hamilton, "I'm going to try and change everything."
Told that his team didn't advise such a move, Hamilton than asked: "Can I make suggestions and you tell me if that's okay?"
"No, that's not allowed," came unhelpful response.
In time, the issue resolved itself, whilst race-winner Nico Rosberg, no doubt to add to his teammate's frustration, revealed that he suffered a similar issue but was able to resolve it himself.
Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen, under pressure from Sergio Perez and already frustrated by a time penalty for a pitlane infringement, called on his engineers for advice on an ERS issue and told such aid was not permitted he asked for a simple yes or no, only to be told it was not allowed.
Speaking after the race, Fernando Alonso appeared to sum up the current situation.
"From the beginning this rule was not making much sense," said the Spaniard. "They give us a spaceship to drive, with the technology we have, and now we have no information available. Sometimes it's difficult to know what is happening with the car, and what solution to do. Maybe in the future we can address this."
"Dangerous," was Hamilton's response when asked about how he felt whilst trying to resolve his issue. "I was just looking at my steering wheel for a long portion of the lap. All the way down the straight l was just looking at my wheel."
"I didn't know what the problem was so l didn't know if l had done something to make it not work," he added. "All they could tell me is that there was a switch error of some sort. I was looking at every single switch thinking 'am l being an idiot here? Have l done something wrong?' And l hadn't. I was looking through all these switch positions and there was nothing that looked irregular.
"The radio ban was supposed to ban driver aids but this was a technical issue," said the world champion, a comment with which his team boss agreed.
"I think we need to look at the rules. This is not me complaining, it is the same for everyone, but we can do two things: either make the cars less complicated, which l don't think we should do, or adjust the rules so that we can communicate with the drivers more when they have a problem."
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