The f1 diffuser hearing

The 2009 season may not yet be a month old but it’s already on the brink of its first big turning point with the FIA’s International Court of Appeal meeting on Tuesday to clarify the legality of controversial ‘double decker’ diffusers once and for all.
ITV.com/F1’s James Allen sets the scene ahead of the crunch Paris hearing and assesses what the potential verdicts could have on the championship as a whole and pecking order going forwards as we head towards the European season.
It’s been a fairly quiet Easter as far as happenings in F1 are concerned.
I guess Malaysia was such a momentous weekend, with the McLaren/stewards affair and the crazy race, it’s hardly surprising that the sport needed to take a breather.
But tomorrow (Tuesday 14th) things will get intense again as the international appeal court makes its decision regarding the legality of the diffusers of Brawn, Williams and Toyota. This decision could well decide the outcome of the world championship – certainly that is the view of former world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who are on the wrong side of the debate.
Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and Red Bull know that the first four races – a quarter of the season – will have been lost if the decision goes against them.
If the decision goes with the protesters, we will have to unpick the results of the first two grands prix, which will be very messy. We’ve already had a high-profile reversal before the season started on the points system. To tell the world also that the first two races are meaningless would make neutrals wonder what the heck is going on in F1.
However that’s a risk we have to take because the important thing here is that we get the right decision, so everyone can move forward. The top teams all have their own versions of the ‘double decker’ diffuser in the wind tunnel at the moment and will be ready to run them either in Bahrain or Barcelona, depending on their manufacturing capability. This should give them a vault in performance.
The Brawn team hopes to keep its nose ahead and has some updates of its own to roll out in Spain, because the team has the luxury of being one step ahead of the rest.
But it will be interesting to see whether these updates give anything like the returns that the diffusers will give to the rest. Meanwhile Toyota and Williams have benefited from the diffusers and, for as long as it lasts, they are taking points off the top teams.
McLaren and Ferrari look out of sorts at the moment, McLaren because of a slow car and the strife they have brought on themselves. Internally there is some real soul searching going on and a threat that they may lose their lead driver over the damage done to his reputation. That is very destabilising.
Ferrari are on the ropes because they have made mistakes and had reliability issues. They need to get onto the right path as a team and I’ve no doubt that they will.This is not like turning an oil tanker around, an F1 team with a winning culture can adapt and change direction very quickly.
BMW should benefit greatly from the updated package they will bring out in Spain.
They have combined the need to build a car with a trick diffuser with the need to make a lighter chassis for Robert Kubica, so he can use the KERS system and he will be driving essentially a B-spec car in Spain.
I expect him to start to feature in a big way after that. He’s been one of the few top team drivers to have given the diffuser cars a run for their money in the opening races.
Renault are coming from a bit further back, while Red Bull have a different concept to the rest and have been quick in the opening races. If forced to adapt to the trick diffusers, it will be interesting to see whether they gain or lose relative to the opposition.
If the appeal court decision goes Brawn’s way it will certainly give Jenson Button a fighting chance of winning the title, as he will have had four ‘open goals’ at the first four races, a head start that it will take the big teams a lot of the season to catch up.