TC ban 'won't improve racing'

That is the view of leading technical figures, who think that the ban will not add much to the spectacle of Formula One - although it will hurt those drivers who are unable to look after their rear tyres through good throttle control.

Williams technical director Sam Michael told autosport.com: "The drivers will have to be more gentle with the throttle. They are really going to have to learn to feel it like they used to. So it will be like before Barcelona 2001 (when traction control returned).

"But the racing will not be much different. There may be a few more mistakes and the drivers will have to take care of the rear tyres - so those who can feel the rear tyres and the throttle will shine.

"But I would be very surprised if the racing will be more exciting to be honest."

Spyker chief technology officer Mike Gascoyne added: "As always I don't think it will make any difference to the racing at the front of the grid."

Michael claims that the teams are going to have to work pretty hard to revise their cars to accommodate the ban - because traction control has become such an integrated part of modern design.

"There will be a lot of work on our part as all the systems now work in conjunction with traction control," he explained. "It is true it has become cheap to do the system, as we have been developing it for many years, but you cannot deny it does take away from the drivers.

"There is full automation now - so the drivers just go flat on the throttle. No finesse is required right now, as electronics do everything for them."

But despite uncertainty about the impact of the traction control ban, both Michael and Gascoyne are confident that the introduction of standard ECUs will ensure there is no return to the cheating accusations that flew around the last time traction control was banned.

"With the standard ECU it really made sense to get rid of traction control," said Michael. "I suppose it is the right way to go, as there will be no more cheating stories."

Gascoyne added: "Theoretically with a standard ECU there should be no chance of anyone cheating as in the past. Also the FIA now have access to all the data from the car so it would be much more difficult than it was in the past. But never say never..."