Tomorrow could be the deciding factor to the 2009 FIA Formula One championship. I am referencing the diffuser debate and the uncurtanty of many teams now lies in the hands of the higher sporting court that will be held tomorrow. Teams like Ferrari, BMW and McLaren are all running diffusers that were understood to be utilizing a read diffuser that’s within the good sportsmanship ruling of the regulations. However, there are some that are looking for the loopholes within the system and therefore taking advantage of them.

I’m not sure how I really feel about this though. Part of me says, good job for taking advantage of every angle and creating a superior car. However, there also should have been a meeting to discuss whether it was legal or not before the start of the race (not just race weekend). There should have been a better understanding of the diffuser ruling and the FIA should have been responsible to ensure that everyone is clear on the ruling. I also understand that teams are trying to adhear to the sporting regulations to keep it fair.

I feel that although I’m tipping my hat to the teams with the modified diffuser for being creative and inovative. These teams are also the teams that didn’t appear at a meeting regarding the aerodynamics that most of the other teams did attend (from my understanding for the Speed TV broadcast of the Australian GP).  So I feel that these teams should be penalized but not disqualified.  The should not be disqualified only because the FIA and the Sterwards allowed the diffusers even under protest.  The solution at this time would be to assess the actual time advantage per lap and then take the total number of laps completed.  So as an example if you are a team with a diffuser and you are thought to have an unfair advantage of 0.5 seconds and the race was 70 laps, you would be assessed a 35-second time penalty for the entire race.  This way people that didn’t finish the race still are placed lower than the people who did finish the race.