A life in Formula One spoils you for the real world. And not because it's filled with canapes and champagne. (Monaco being the key exception to that rule, you understand.)
No, a life in F1 spoils you for the real world because things happen at lightning speed, and you get lulled into a false sense of security about the efficiency of the world as a whole.
On Monday, the great and the good from the technical world met in London to discuss how to solve the engine mapping row that made its mark on the Hockenheim race weekend. Reports emerging from that meeting said that any change or clarification to the rule would take some time to come about, as they didn't want to plunge the rulebook into chaos by making one change that would have unintended consequences elsewhere.
And on Wednesday it emerged that the teams had been issued with a directive from the FIA clarifying just what could and couldn't be done with engine mapping.
Yup, that less-than-48-hour period was glacial in F1 terms. Glacial, I tells ya.
So what is this new clarification?
Teams now have to nominate one of the maps used in the first four races of the 2012 season as their standard or baseline map. That point of reference determines the maps they're allowed to use at other races.
The BBC have seen a copy of the clarification, and report that it states: "Above 6,000rpm, the maximum engine torque may vary by no more than +/- 2% [from the reference map]. And the ignition angle may vary by no more than 2.5%."
It remains to be seen just what the effect of this new rule will be - on Red Bull and their rivals - during this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. But it will be interesting to see who (if anyone) suffers a dramatic loss of cornering speed, even on the relatively low-cornering speed Hungaroring.
No, a life in F1 spoils you for the real world because things happen at lightning speed, and you get lulled into a false sense of security about the efficiency of the world as a whole.
On Monday, the great and the good from the technical world met in London to discuss how to solve the engine mapping row that made its mark on the Hockenheim race weekend. Reports emerging from that meeting said that any change or clarification to the rule would take some time to come about, as they didn't want to plunge the rulebook into chaos by making one change that would have unintended consequences elsewhere.
And on Wednesday it emerged that the teams had been issued with a directive from the FIA clarifying just what could and couldn't be done with engine mapping.
Yup, that less-than-48-hour period was glacial in F1 terms. Glacial, I tells ya.
So what is this new clarification?
Teams now have to nominate one of the maps used in the first four races of the 2012 season as their standard or baseline map. That point of reference determines the maps they're allowed to use at other races.
The BBC have seen a copy of the clarification, and report that it states: "Above 6,000rpm, the maximum engine torque may vary by no more than +/- 2% [from the reference map]. And the ignition angle may vary by no more than 2.5%."
It remains to be seen just what the effect of this new rule will be - on Red Bull and their rivals - during this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. But it will be interesting to see who (if anyone) suffers a dramatic loss of cornering speed, even on the relatively low-cornering speed Hungaroring.
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