Mercedes triggered latest FIA clampdown

The latest twist in F1’s endless ’blown diffuser’ saga was reportedly triggered by Mercedes.

Amid last week’s Barcelona test, it was rumoured that Mercedes and Renault-powered teams would have to make tweaks, after a loophole was discovered in the standard electronics software.

For 2012, the FIA has clamped down on engine exhaust blowing for aerodynamic purposes, but speculation continued to sweep the paddock that some teams had devised ways to minimise the impact of the ban.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that it was Mercedes engineers who found the loophole, in terms of how to utilise the standard electronic software to maximise the off-throttle exhaust blowing effect.

"The FIA has responded by rewriting the software," read the report.

Auto Motor und Sport said Mercedes was right about the loophole, but that it could only have been exploited at the price of dramatic fuel consumption, and potential damage to the engine.

"We have erred on the safe side," an FIA source is quoted as saying.

Writing in Spain’s Mundo Deportivo, Raymond Blacafort said the 2012 Red Bull’s exhaust was making a strange sound in the chicane in Barcelona last week.