Why are innovations not patented in F1?
The ride height control system developed by Lotus is sparking debate about the need to protect innovations in Formula One.
It only took about fifteen days in 2012 for Formula One to find a new subject of technical controversy, following the abolition, at the end of the 2011 season, of the blown diffusers which had fueled technical debate throughout the previous year. With its ride height adjustment system, deemed legal according to the FIA, Lotus has changed the technical landscape in 2012 and reignited the arms race that traditionally takes place among Formula One teams. However, some, including regular commentators from casinoenligne.uk.com, have wondered why, contrary to normal practices, innovations in Formula One were not patented and could therefore be freely copied by all the teams involved.
On his blog, James Allen provides some answers by consulting the expertise of a Formula One engineer: « The absence of patents in Formula One is easily explained. This is because if a team patents one of its concepts, it guarantees itself an advantage that other teams do not have access to. Consequently, the other teams will simply vote against this innovation at a meeting of the F1 Technical Working Group before the end of the current season. By keeping a new concept free to be copied, a team can bet on the fact that it will do a better job than the others. Examples such as the seamless gearbox [note: with almost instantaneous gear changes] or inertia dampers are good examples. If they had been patented by F1 teams, they would have been nipped in the bud. »
More recently, the controversy surrounding the blown diffuser provided us with a perfect example of the political dimension that a technical debate can take on when it comes to innovation. Introduced in 2010 by Renault and Red Bull, this trick, which involved blowing exhaust gases into the diffuser to generate more downforce, only made waves in 2011, when the rivals of the Austrian team and the French engine manufacturer realized the difficulty in achieving the desired effect. Faced with Cosworth’s difficulties in developing an engine mapping suited to such a system, Williams accidentally lodged a complaint about its validity, and Red Bull’s dominance in the 2011 season convinced the FIA to ban blown exhausts in 2012.
For now, the system imagined by Lotus has reportedly received the approval of the FIA and could give a slight advantage to the British team, but its rivals – starting with Ferrari and Mercedes according to various sources – are already working on implementing a similar system. If it had been patented, we would probably have seen an immediate outcry, whereas at the moment, free to copy the system, the teams hope to develop it as effectively as Lotus, before, in case of failure, possibly questioning its legality.
