The FIA has tweaked the radio communication rules ahead of the Hungarian GP.
A technical directive was issued to teams on Wednesday, with a number of changes to the rules that were introduced at the start of the season.
The first, and possibly most significant, change is to item number two on the list of permitted messages. Previously, teams could only inform drivers of a “critical” problem with the car.
“Any message of this sort may only be used if failure of a component or system is imminent and potentially terminal.”
Now, the term “critical” has been removed. The team can tell drivers about any problem, but the new penalty may put teams off calling in every little problem.
“Any message of this sort must include an irreversible instruction to enter the pits to rectify the problem or to retire the car.”
In Silverstone, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was handed a ten-second penalty after his engineer told him how to work with his gearbox problem. If the same thing were to occur in Hungary, Rosberg would lose a lot more time when he would be forced to pit and then told how to solve the problem.
Other changes include the tightening of item three. Drivers can now only be given information concerning damage to the bodywork of the car. Previously, the regulation simply read “information concerning damage to the car”.
Another big difference is that the rules now apply to all the times the car is out of the pit lane, with the exception of the slow down lap after the end of the race. Previously, the rules applied whenever the car was out of the garage.
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