Wolff: new radio limits need more explanation

Toto Wolff

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff says teams will need further clarification on what they now can and can’t tell their drivers on the radio following the FIA’s "controversial" decision to clamp down on pits-to-car messages.

It emerged on Thursday that FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting had sent a Technical Directive to all teams detailing that from next week’s Singapore GP "no radio conversation from pit to driver may include any information that is related to the performance of the car or driver."

With the directive thought to include an effective ban on such things as drivers being told about the state of their tires and speed through the various sectors of a lap, both teams and their drivers are going to have to quickly adapt to a new way of working during on-track sessions over a race weekend to ensure they fall into line with the clampdown.

Amid early suggestions that teams could try coded messages to their drivers to get round the changes, Wolff is aware the changes are likely to produce contention and therefore the governing body need to provide the teams with more information on what now isn’t permitted.

"On track, it has been confirmed that we will now see less radio traffic," Mercedes' Executive Director said in the team's Singapore preview.

"This is a complex and controversial decision which will require a significant effort from the teams to understand how best we can work around it."

"The directive is not yet fully clear and there will inevitably be some controversy, so it will need further clarification as to how much the essential on-track procedures will be affected – particularly before the start of the race."

The teams which make up F1's Strategy Group, which Mercedes forms part, talked away ways of spicing up the on-track spectacle during a meeting last Friday at Monza with a limit on radio traffic one such area discussed.

The changes for Singapore do not include advice with regard to pit-stop strategies or safety, nor with regard to general messages between pit and driver. Sky Sports