Formula 1 to ban F-Duct from 2011

Team bosses have voted to ban the F-Duct aerodynamic system next year after McLaren introduced the design at the start of this season in Melbourne.

The system allows drivers to divert air from outside of the car to the rear wing by simply covering a hole inside the cockpit with their arm or hand. The result is air pressure stalling the rear wing to reduce drag on the car and give it higher speed on straight sections of racetrack.


Several teams, including Ferrari, have introduced their own versions of the design or will implement it on their cars in the course of the next few races. The decision to ban the system was made before the start of last Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, on cost and safety grounds.

"It is a clever piece of engineering and hats off to the guys who invented it, but some of the solutions look a bit marginal when you see drivers driving with finger tips and no hands on the steering wheel to activate their F-Duct," Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner said. "So I think there are safety and cost issues to take into account." -- Agencies