Marko questions timing of blown exhaust clampdown

Dr Helmut Marko has questioned the timing of the FIA’s blown exhaust clampdown.

Charlie Whiting told the teams in London on Thursday that restrictions on the sophisticated off-throttle systems will apply as of Silverstone in July, ahead of a total ban in 2012.

Some commentators have seen the mid-season ban as an attempt to curb the dominance of Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull team pioneered the current technology.

"Inventions such as the double diffuser and the F-duct were both banned at the end of the year," Marko, Red Bull’s motor racing consultant, told German Bild-Zeitung newspaper.

"Now we see a ban in the middle of the season. That’s pretty strange.

"What we hope now is that it doesn’t hit us any harder than it does Renault, Mercedes and McLaren, while Ferrari is most certainly looking to gain an advantage," claimed Marko.