F1 News
Taffin: 'Irritating that ban on party mode is coming mid-season"
- GPblog.com
The FIA has introduced a possible major ban in Formula 1. From the Italian Grand Prix onwards, the teams will no longer be allowed to use party mode, the aggressive engine mode, during qualifying sessions. Mercedes seems to suffer from this, but Renault power source chief Remi Taffin manages to nuance things.
Does ban penalise Mercedes?
In conversation with Motorsport-magazin.com, Taffin discusses the winners and losers of the ban on party mode in F1. Taffin kicks off: "As always there are winners and losers, but we don't know how many will be lost. It is mainly annoying that we have now built our cars with a race mode and a qualifying mode".
"We have done our job and in the middle of the season we have to adjust our work. The team that initially focused more on the race will benefit from the ban. Teams with a focus on qualifying will suffer".
Crucial change for Red Bull?
From the races of the 2020 season it can be concluded that Mercedes has focused mainly on qualifying. The team is supreme on Saturday. On Sunday, however, Red Bull Racing manages to get close in the form of Max Verstappen. Does this mean that Red Bull Racing will now be a lot closer?
Taffin: "You can take part of your qualifying mode to the race, but you can't drive sixty laps on that mode while you only drive three or four laps the day before. At least we know how it works. “
The Renault chief concludes: "I am pretty sure that without a usable qualifying mode, Mercedes will work hard enough to find a stand, fast enough for both qualifying and the race".