McLaren and Ferrari exhaust systems would be legal
Ferrari and McLaren displayed rather aggressive exhausts at Jerez, with some considering these concepts illegal. However, the FIA inspected the exhausts of these two teams, and Charlie Whiting reportedly declared them legal.
Charlie Whiting, the FIA’s technical delegate, was present this week in Jerez to check the legality of the various 2012 cars. The main regulation change for 2012 is the ban on blown diffusers, so the FIA has decided to position the exhaust outlets higher.
Ferrari and McLaren have opted for an aggressive approach in this area. Both teams would still benefit from an aerodynamic gain thanks to their exhausts, which is contrary to the rules at first glance, but according to several sources, the exhausts of these two teams have been validated by the FIA as being legal.
«For the moment, they are all legal, » notes Auto Motor und Sport quoting Whiting.
Information also confirmed by Ted Kravitz, a reporter for Sky Sports, who was present in Jerez for these first four days of testing for the 2012 season.
I understand from sources in the paddock that Charlie Whiting has told the teams that he considers Ferrari and McLaren’s exhausts to be legal, Kravitz specified to Sky Sports.
Even if the concepts implemented by McLaren and Ferrari seem to be on the edge of legality, or even illegal considering the regulations, they would have been validated by Whiting. The other teams, who hadn’t taken as many risks, will probably reconsider their approach.
« Even though the way these two teams have designed their exhausts, with parts that direct the exhaust gases to specific parts of the car and there seems to be an aerodynamic gain, which is against the new rules on exhausts, it seems that Whiting thinks they are sufficiently within the rules. »
Each rule change is always somewhat open to interpretation by the teams, and it is therefore up to the FIA to study each concept and validate what is allowed and what is not. On the Williams side, they trust the FIA to judge the legality of the exhausts.
« The teams obviously push things to the limit, and some teams go even further than others. But it’s up to Charlie (Whiting) and the FIA to control that. We keep a keen eye on this and will study alternative solutions. But what works on one car does not automatically graft correctly onto another, » stated Mark Gillan, the head of engineering at Williams, as quoted by Autosport.
