Hamilton fastest in Singapore as FIA backtrack on F1’s new radio rules

Driver coaching over radio to remain banned, but remaining laws to be implemented in 2015 to avoid disadvantaging some of the teams.

Lewis Hamilton was fastest in practice for the Singapore Grand Prix. Aaron Favila / AP Photo

Driver coaching to remain outlawed as concerns over disadvantaging teams lead to plan to implement regulations in two stages

Formula One has backtracked on a planned clampdown on radio and pit-board messages for reasons of fairness but remains determined to end driver “coaching” during races, the world governing body said yesterday.

Teams will be allowed to send messages relating to car performance in tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix but from next season they will follow those concerning driver performance onto the banned list.

As Lewis Hamilton boosted his hopes of winning for a second time in Singapore by topping the times in practice yesterday, all the talk in the paddock was on radios.

After a meeting at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the FIA opted to ban messages on both topics but decided after speaking with team managers in Singapore that more time was ­required.

Part of the rationale for the dilution of the rule was that the ban would have had an uneven impact on teams.

Teams that have high-tech steering wheels with enhanced data telemetry would be more able than others to provide drivers with information on car performance. Data telemetry is not part of the ban, only radio transmissions.

“It became quite clear some teams would be at a serious disadvantage compared to others,” Whiting said

“Not just in their new know-how or their ability to react in the short term, but also in hardware choices that were made a year ago.

“The two types of dashboards that are available to the teams, one will simply show a great deal more than the other.

“So in the interest of fairness we felt, with the benefit of hindsight, it would be better to introduce it in two stages.”

Driver coaching messages via radio, which includes advice on gear selection and braking points at corners, car set-up for particular parts of the track, racing lines, speed and acceleration rates, and how and when to use the drag-reduction system, will be banned immediately.

Asked why the FIA had not simply waited for the final six races of the 2014 campaign to pass before implementing the new rules, Whiting said the organisation could not stand by if rules were clearly being broken.

“It was becoming apparent that more and more was being done for the drivers and quite simply that is at odds with article 20.1 of the regulations,” the Briton said.

“If you see or hear something that you are uncomfortable with, with regards to conforming to the rules, you have to do something about it and that’s our job.”

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday he had been behind the original decision to ban messages and he wanted less talk on the radio during races.

He also suggested more restrictions should be introduced and Whiting said it was inevitable the rules on messages would become far more comprehensive.

“The plan is to make it more far reaching to take in the technical elements of it as well. The technical assistance that the driver is getting on the performance of the car as well,” he said.

“It will inevitably become more complex but unfortunately that is how the sport is. It is going to be hard to make it simpler unless I was to remove radios from the car but I don’t think that will be very well received.”

Whiting said the first session of practice yesterday in Singapore had been incident free and that “around eight” people were monitoring the radio traffic of the 11 teams on the grid.

Any breaches upheld by stewards will be subject to “sporting” penalties rather than fines. That would mean relegation down the starting grid if breaches occur in qualifying, or stop-go and drive-through penalties during the race.

The new rule on driver coaching had no impact on the action in Singapore yesterday as Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, set the pace with a time of 1 min, 47.490 seconds.

The 2008 world champion, who won the race in 2009, goes into the race weekend 22 points behind teammate Nico Rosberg in the championship standings.

Rosberg was only 13th fastest, having missed out on setting a quick lap on the soft tyre after the second session was briefly stopped after Pastor Maldonado had crashed his Lotus.

The German instead looked to work on his race set-up once the track was clear of debris.