Mosley steps in to allay traction control fears

After finishing behind Nick Heidfeld's Sauber in the Australian GP, Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen fuelled rumours by commenting on the apparent ease with which the Sauber (which is powered by a Ferrari V10 re-badged as a Petronas) would pull away under acceleration out of slow corners. Speaking on his personal website, the German also alleged that he could hear the car misfiring under acceleration - something often associated with traction control systems.

However, Sauber swiftly dismissed the claims, saying: "We are really astonished [at the accusation]. It's not even credible." Ferrari has also always denied that its works or customer engines employ any form of illegal device to enhance traction.

Since making his original observation, Frentzen has stood by his theory: "In the past 18 races, I had plenty of opportunity to trail behind Ferrari cars or machinery powered by Ferrari engines," he said. "And one thing was particularly remarkable: out of tight corners, these cars had a pretty stunning acceleration, combined with a misfiring engine.

"For me, it is beyond doubt that somehow Ferrari managed to develop engine software which reduces the power by a certain margin to the extent that the driven wheels don't spin. It cannot be ignored that something like that exists, there is simply no room for a discussion about that."

But speaking in this week's Autosport magazine, Mosley, the head of motorsport's governing body, denied any wrongdoing from Sauber or Ferrari.

"We disagree [with the allegations]," he said, "and we are better placed than Heinz-Harald Frentzen to know what the various teams are doing.

"It is, however, a fact that some teams are able to tune their engines so that wheelspin becomes unlikely and more manageable. This is not the same thing as traction control."

The FIA's ruling on what constitutes traction control is deliberately vague in order for the governing body to be able to react to ever-changing engine management technology. As a rule of thumb, a system which detects wheelspin and reacts to it (a closed-loop control system) is currently illegal, whereas a system which includes pre-emptive measures built into a fixed engine map is not.

In the latter case, for example, certain cylinders may be cut by the engine management system under a pre-defined level of acceleration and with the car in a certain gear. This would be done in an attempt to stop wheelspin before it occurs and would not therefore be classed as a reactive form of traction control.

F1 teams were warned last week that in the run-up to the legal re-introduction of traction control, there would be greater scrutiny to ensure teams were not running the system ahead of time.

Click here for 'Frentzen clarifies his traction control stance'

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