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Supreme
driving skill is a prerequisite for any Formula 1 driver but the class of 2008
are getting the chance to show their car control skills even more than in
previous years thanks to the elimination of traction control.
Purists
have long argued that traction control - an electronic system which regulates
power to the rear wheels to eliminate wheel-spin - spoils the spectacle of
Formula 1. But the ‘good old days' of iconic drivers demonstrating their mastery
over their machine by taking it to the limit of traction and beyond are
back.
The
introduction of a standard electronic control unit (ECU) has seen the
elimination of traction control for 2008, and the first two Grands Prix of the
year have already proved spectacular - with more dramatic moments sure to come
in this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.
For
Panasonic Toyota Racing, the absence of traction control gives Jarno Trulli and
Timo Glock the perfect opportunity to show off their awesome combination of car
control and raw speed.
Jarno
has spent most of his Formula 1 career driving with traction control but he is
famed as a true artist behind the wheel and the current regulations give him
more freedom to express his passion for the perfect lap time. "The traction
control ban is a good thing because technology had taken over driver input," he
says. "It is good to have a step back and give the car back to the driver. It is
more fun and we have more input into car performance. I like it because you need
to be more sensitive and you really need to drive the car."
For
Timo, life without traction control is the norm after spells in Champ Car and
GP2 gave him experience of handling powerful single-seaters without the comfort
zone of electronic aids. However, he says: "In the end we are supposed to be the
22 best drivers in the world and I think everyone is good enough to adapt
quickly to driving without traction control.
"With
traction control you can go more to the limit; it's the right way to go, to
bring a bit more control to the driver and that makes it interesting. It's good
for the fans to see more black marks on the track again!"
Team
manager Richard Cregan also has no doubt that putting more emphasis on driver
skill, and providing a more impressive spectacle in the process, is a winning
combination. "It's certainly given us more exciting racing and I think anything
that puts the control of the car back into the hands of the driver has to be
positive in terms of the spectator," he says. "We've seen that already and I
think it's a very positive thing.
"Trying
to control that much horsepower in a car which is quite delicate puts a lot more
back into the hands of the drivers. But these are professionals and they go out
there with a passion to win; they have to show what they can do without traction
control. There's been a lot of discussion about it - but my personal view is,
get out there, drive the car, show what you can do - it's about your talent as a
driver."
The
lack of traction control impacts not only the driver. The Panasonic Toyota
Racing engineers have had to adapt the set-up of the TF108 to suit the slightly
different requirements a driver has when he can no longer rely on electronics to
keep the rear wheels in check, with slightly more downforce required for optimum
set-up this year.
Jarno's
race engineer Gianluca Pisanello explains: "The ban on so-called driver aids has
changed the approach of the teams and the drivers in certain areas of
development, set-up and driving. The development of the car has to, of course,
cope with this new challenge; you want a car which is well balanced on corner
exit when you go on throttle, so that the traction is still there even without
traction control."
This
delicate balance will be even more crucial this weekend at the Bahrain
International Circuit, which is located in the desert and subsequently is very
dusty before the cars have swept a clean line during Friday practice. This puts
the emphasis firmly on aerodynamic stability, something the TF108 has proved
very strong at so far in 2008.
"We
need to be very careful with the handling characteristic of the car particularly
in Bahrain with a sandy circuit," says Head of Aerodynamics Mark Gillan.
"Overnight the wind can blow in sand, so usually the track starts off green but
it then gets ‘rubbered in' through the through the weekend. However, with
Bahrain you can get sand blowing over the rubber as well.
"With
the loss of traction control then obviously the cars are more prone to
wheel-spin and we need to be sure that we provide a more stable aerodynamic car
just to counter any instability which may come without the traction
control."
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