Engine clampdown to start in Valencia

Formula One teams will no longer be able to either change or tinker with their engines between the start of qualifying and the Grand Prix itself, a letter sent to them from the governing body the FIA has revealed.

"The FIA, the regulatory authority of F1, has let it be known to the teams that after analysing the statistics from the first seven Grand Prix, they noticed astonishing differences in the engines performances in certain cars," an FIA spokesperson said. "Our philosophy is very simple: that the governing body intervenes when it perceives that the rules have not been respected, because those rules have been taken advantage of owing to them having too much flexibility."

The FIA laid matters out in more technical detail in their letter.

"It has become obvious that some engine and control system set-up parameters are routinely changed during post-qualifying parc fermé. It appears that teams have been relying upon the fact that physical connections to the car are permitted by the Article 34.1 of the F1 Sporting Regulations and electrical units may be freely accessed. In our view this is totally inconsistent with the intention of the parc fermé regulations, i.e. that cars should be raced exactly as they qualified. Even though electrical units may be freely accessed there is no provision within the regulations for making any changes to the set-up of any of the units. It is therefore our view that, with immediate effect, from the time at which each car first leaves the pits during qualifying until the start of the race, no changes to the set-up of any electronic control unit may take place."

This latest clampdown comes just a few days after the announcement that an effective ban on off-throttle use of blown diffusers will be introduced from next month's British Grand Prix. Although both measures are likely to have an effect on the majority of teams, feeling in the F1 paddock is that Red Bull will be the hardest hit.