I installed an F-duct on my Honda Accord. Now I'm­ getting to work 2/10ths of a second quicker in the­ morning. This has allowed me more time to pursue my­ other interests. So, I can't speak for the­ Formula 1 drivers, but speaking for myself, the F duct­ has definately improved the quality of my life.

It make me laugh we're arguing about safety here­ when a driver has no hands on the wheel for a few­ seconds. Come on, do we think the likes of FA are not­ capable of doing this. For us mere mortals it would be­ an impossible task, these guys are virtually­ superhuman. Let them get on with it for FGS.

OK children I'll use small words so you can­ understand. It is a safety issue. They are driving with­ one hand or even just the finger tips of one hand. Now­ go back to Malaysia and recall Ham & Petrov­ swerving down the straight.
Or maybe you would find it­ acceptable if instead of letting go of the steetng­ device, the drivers just needed to loosen their safety­ belts so they could slide down in the seat and use­ their helmet to block a vent because it was found that­ a larger vent was more efficient.
Use yor brains­ people. Unless they rescInd the rule allowing­ mechanical manipulation of aerodynamics, this is not a­ safely implementable technology.
You McClaren­ worshipers can cry conspiracy all you wish, but they­ too voted to not use the system next year. This is an­ agreement of the teams not a mandate by the FIA. Can­ you not read?

The reason FOTA has decided to "ban" F-ducts­ is, McLaren has already designed a new trick, to be­ implemented next year. Since everyone will already have­ an F-duct, or blown wing as Ferrari calls it, there­ will be no advantage. So their NEW trick will then­ again give them an advantage until everyone copies­ it... Now all they have to do is figure out what is­ making the RED BULL cars so fast...

Well isn't that a stupid move. As all the teams­ are developing it this season, the cost of having it­ next season is zero. So how is dropping it at the end­ of the season going to save money? It isn't, it­ will in fact increase costs because the cars will have­ to take off the part and that will increase costs next­ year as they design through the void it left behind. ­ Just allow them to put anything on the cars they want­ and limit the amount of fuel they carry... let them use­ turbo and super chargers if they want or jet engines...­ just limit the fuel and you would have true innovation­ and much better racing than the current glorified spec­ racing.

@carl
The Spirit of the rules is very important, and­ that is why the teams have agreed not to pursue this. I­ believe this must be a unanimous decision by the­ teams.
In this case the implementation is a bordering­ on dangerous. I am not against new technology, but this­ is a safety issue. As I wrote in my previous post the­ proper way to do this is with a control circuit and not­ having the driver play "look ma, no hands".­ However the rules regarding systems which manipulate­ aerodynamics are quite clear and well established.

To Peter C
As you say 'getting lapped is going to­ have an effect on you'r overall­ pace'
That's the point, these new guys do not­ have the overall pace to prevent getting lapped! Yes it­ does create good overtaking opportunities, but what is­ most concerning is the safety aspect! It is a lot like­ entering a 'donkey' in the Kentucky derby!
As I­ said before, these 'newbies' have to learn, but­ I don't think the risk is worth the reward! The new­ cars are too slow, the rookie drivers that are in them,­ are posing to much of a safety risk! Their HAS to be a­ safer way....
Barry

Barry the slow cars would fall into the 110%­ (ish)...what I think you fail to see is that when a­ slower car is lapped then it's lap has to be even­ slower...getting out of the way 30 or 40 times a race­ is going to have an effect on your overall pace, added­ to the fact that it allows a leading driver a chance to­ pounce on another to gain a place perhaps we should see­ them as 'an overtaking opportunity'.
What the­ FIA and the constructors need to look at is putting­ numbers to the disturbance behind an F1 car and setting­ regulations to reduce the distance of disturbance to a­ following car. and as regards to Downforce...stipulate­ a maximum and test it.

Instead of all this garbage about 'banning this,­ banning that', why doesn't F1/FIA do something­ that is usefull! You have 3 new teams this year, that­ 'can't get out of their own way', yet a­ rule to restrict advances to make a car faster are­ outlawed!
You have 3 teams,(6 cars), Lotus/SRT/Virgin,­ that are not only incredibably slow, they ARE­ dangerous. In Spain you had divers of the­ 'better' cars saying they lapped these guys 2­ or 3 times! Instead of 'banning' the F-duct, or­ anything else, why don't these people impliment­ MINIMUM requirements for these cars to compete! The­ 110% rule would do that nicely! Racing is dangerous­ enough without havind to deal with 'rolling­ chicanes'

What's with all this 'spirit of the rules'­ rubbish ?? If it's legal, it's LEGAL...end of.­ 'Spirit of the rules' seems to mean 'we­ haven't got it yet or we didn't think of it so­ no one can have it'.
If we ban technological­ breakthroughs to mae the cars of the team that think of­ it faster then we may as well all have the same car and­ call it Indy Racing.
No thanks !!

What you seem to be missing is that the F-Duct is an­ attempt to skirt the rules regarding the manipulation­ of aerodynamics. Obviously the correct way to do it is­ with a driver controlled button, or maybe even computer­ controlled, but that is not allowed. As a work-around a­ driver vent is covered/uncovered to change the air­ flow. so, while it is technically legal, it is not in­ the spirit of the rules.

With regard to KERS, it is a­ very relevant technology. For road cars it will start­ as a means of efficiency. Commercial vehicles such as­ busses are already using a system.

Paul at 14: You're absolutely right. F1 has­ become a farce when it claims to be the pinnacle of­ racing technology when every new development infrnges­ some rule of some kind. I can't imagine what Coln­ Chapman or Ken Tyrrell would think, I'd love to­ know what Gordon Murray and John Barnard think of the­ current setup and while Adrian Newey is an exceptional­ designer he must feel frustrated by the handcuffs the­ FIA insist on doling out. One man's innovator is­ another mans cheater but to ban something becuase­ someone else didn't think of it is just stupid. How­ can F1 call itself a racing sport when all it is trying­ to do is to constantly slow down the cars? Yes I know­ that cost is an issue but no wonder the American have­ no interest in F1 when it stifles innovation on one­ hand while looking for cash from the customer to race­ cars that are going backwards.

Joe the problem is not that one hand is used to cover­ up the hole, but that the driver is also using the­ other hand at the same time to change the dials on the­ steering wheel, and there were several points durng the­ race, when there were no hands on the wheel, that is­ the safety issue, no hands not one hand

Didn't drivers use to have to shift with one hand­ while driving with the other??? So how come now­ it's unsafe to do so. It seems taking your hand off­ the steering wheel only once or twice a lap is­ nothing...........

Fishblue6 -- FIA is not banning, nor calling for a ban!­ Read the article! Or have you NOT a firm grasp on the­ english language? The text clearly­ states:
---------------- "Formula One teams have­ agreed to ban from 2011 the so-called 'F-duct'­ ..." "The ban decision came at a meeting of­ the Formula One Teams Association on Sunday." ­ ---------
--- There is not ONE reference to the FIA at­ all. ----
Pull your paranoid head out of your­ a&&. There is no conspiracy.

Banning technology is dumb.