Red Bull rivals to eye Silverstone exhaust clampdown

It is no coincidence that Ferrari has earmarked Silverstone as a key indicator for its approach to the remainder of 2011.

With Red Bull apparently running away with the title, Ferrari has not ruled out switching its focus to next season after July’s British race.

It is at Silverstone that the FIA’s controversial clampdown on blown exhaust technology, to be confirmed after a technical meeting in London this week, is expected to take effect.

Red Bull’s other main rival McLaren is also hoping the clampdown affects its performance relative to the dominant RB7.

"The rule changes are going to spice things up," predicts Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari test driver Marc Gene told El Mundo newspaper: "The other teams don’t know for sure what makes the Red Bull the most competitive car on the grid."

"It’s probably a combination of things but it’s no secret that they were the first to develop the blown exhaust that has now reached a very high level of evolution."

In the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport, Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali confirmed that Silverstone is a decisive event for the Maranello based team.

"Now we need to get the maximum points possible in Valencia and then look at Silverstone, which is where we will see the real effect of the change in the rules," said the Italian.

The Italian magazine Autosprint said Red Bull is furious about the ban and is arguing behind the scenes that it may even be illegal.

RB7 designer Adrian Newey said in Canada: "I agree with rule changes in the middle of a championship for good reason, like safety, but this is not the case. It’s absurd."