Highlights

F1 bans traction control from 2008

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-03-31 15:45

Traction control will be banned in Formula One from next year, the sport's governing body confirmed on Friday.

The systems, standard on most ordinary road cars to reduce wheelspin and make vehicles easier to handle in the wet, were first banned at the end of 1993 to prevent the technology reducing the importance of driver skill.

They were then reinstated in 2001 because of the difficulty of policing them amid allegations of cheating.

That problem should be overcome with the introduction next year of standard electronic control units, the 'brains' controlling the systems.

"No car may be equipped with a system or device which is capable of preventing the driven wheels from spinning under power or of compensating for excessive throttle demand by the driver," said revised 2008 technical regulations published on the International Automobile Federation (FIA) web site.

"Any device or system which notifies the driver of the onset of wheel spin is not permitted."