Thursday 18 September 2014

Hamilton, Rosberg welcome sound of silence.


Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on Thursday welcomed the sound of radio silence for the final six races of their dramatic duel for the drivers' world championship.
But the airwave clampdown was criticised by Felipe Massa, the veteran Williams driver warning ahead of Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix that it could lead to a major accident.
Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Rosberg, who have fought an intense and sometimes acrimonious battle this year, will, like the rest of the pitlane, no longer have unrestricted radio contact with their teams.
This follows the ban on 'performance-related' radio communications by the sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA).
"All the fans are cheering so it looks like the right way to go," said German Rosberg, who leads Hamilton by 22 points ahead of Singapore.
"In my opinion it's definitely a good thing, because it's just more pure racing. Until now we did so much based on what they (engineers) told us to do on the radio. Now it's up to us."
Hamilton agreed.
"I quite like the idea, but in some ways it makes it harder, like engine strategy - how are we to know what strategy to use?"
He added that the clampdown could affect the intense title battle between himself and Rosberg.
"It's going to be really important that we're on the same strategy. Always.
"There's been a couple of times when Nico has been on a different strategy to me that gives either more or less power and those things disadvantage you.
"So as long as you don't have any problems there, the rest of it we'll manage."
He said the ban would also mean purer racing.
"I hope it's a plus for me. I remember way back in karts, we didn't have any data, so nobody could ever see where I was quick, anything I did, any trick I had.
"So maybe it's a bit of a step back in that direction – I quite like it that we're left to do it ourselves."
Massa offered a different view, explaining: "In some areas it's fine.
"The team tells you not to use the tyres so much in corner five because you're using them too much compared to your teammate. This is okay, this is not a problem.
"But you have so many things in the car that we're doing because if you don't do (them) maybe you put too much temperature in the rear brakes because the battery gets too high and you just put fire in the car. Maybe you can have a big accident..."
He added: "We have seen situations where Lewis had a fire in his car. Maybe you can have that many times if you're not having the right setting."
Massa said he plans to take his concerns forward to the International Motoring Federation (FIA) Race Director Charlie Whiting.
"If it really stays like this, it will be a big fight tomorrow in the drivers' briefing," he said.
He added: "You have a lot of codes that you guys will not know. Whatever things you invent and the driver understands, they'll change that and nobody will know."
Fernando Alonso compared the ruling to the practices in other sports.
"I think this rule has no benefit. It is like basketball or football, you don't allow the coach to say anything,"
In a statement, the sport's ruling body clarified the ban on technical information, saying that any "information concerning damage to the car" is allowed.

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