Lando Norris
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The FIA are facing criticism from Formula 1 teams as the complex nature of this year’s regulations means that one part that is ‘centrally provided’ by the organisation is causing serious issues.
Plenty has been said about Formula 1’s new regulations, with Max Verstappen one of the biggest critics of the ruleset.
Four drivers failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to technical issues, with Verstappen then forced to retire due to a cooling issue.
Disaster for Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto as they fail to start the Chinese Grand Prix!
Although far more overtakes are being completed than in the past, there have been complaints that the racing comes across as ‘artificial’ from Lando Norris and other drivers.
However, Lewis Hamilton commented that he had never seen the circuit in Shanghai so busy, and the FIA will be pleased that their decision to change the regulations hasn’t immediately backfired.
However, journalist and broadcaster Nelson Valkenburg has heard teams talking in the paddock about the FIA-produced ECU and how it simply can’t cope with the complexity of the new ruleset.
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F1 teams are complaining about ‘incredibly important’ FIA-produced ECU not working properly
Valkenburg was asked about the power units on the Nailing the Apex Podcast and said: “What is very interesting now is to see who really wants to change this.
“There is no need for Mercedes to change this right now. They’re quite happy. So, given they have four teams, it becomes interesting to see how voting goes, etc.
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“But the ECU is the main computing unit that is given by the FIA to the teams from a central source, and I’m starting to hear in the paddock that the ECU is not clever enough to deal with all the computations that are needed per lap, and Red Bull have called it glitchy.
“Ferrari were unhappy with how it worked during qualifying. We’ve seen McLaren also having issues.
“There are people very unhappy with a centrally sourced, centrally provided component that is incredibly important to how this regulation set works. So I think the FIA is really trying to find a way to make that work better.”
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What is an ECU, and why is it causing problems for Formula 1 teams?
An ECU is an electronic control unit and controls many aspects of a Formula 1 car’s power unit.
This is ‘incredibly important’ as Valkenburg suggests because of the nature of the new hybrid engines.
The ECU controls the recharge element of the power units, something that many drivers have been having trouble with, particularly on the formation lap of races.
Verstappen was among those left without any battery before the Australian Grand Prix, and got bogged down at both starts in China as well.
Both McLaren drivers failed to start in Shanghai, with team principal Andrea Stella citing ‘problems with the electrical side of the power unit,’ as the reason why Norris couldn’t even get out of the garage.
Ted Kravitz couldn’t confirm whether McLaren suffered an ECU issue, but the fact that it was a potential cause of the problems highlights the fact that teams are talking about it in the paddock.
The FIA mandated these regulation changes and have a far smaller technical team than all of the manufacturers on the grid combined.
It makes sense for the ECU to be centrally-produced, but if it’s causing issues during race weekends, then a fix will need to be found very quickly.
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