Formula 1 reactive ride height systems will be banned

Formula 1 teams have been told that the reactive suspension system pioneered by Lotus has been banned for the 2012 season.

Sources have confirmed that a note was sent from the FIA to all teams on Friday evening indicating that the governing body was no longer satisfied the concept – which regulates ride height under braking – was still legal.

It is not clear why the FIA has decided now that the reactive systems should be outlawed, after AUTOSPORT revealed last week that it had given the green light to the Lotus idea as long ago as last January.

Rival teams are likely, however, to have made an effort to prove to the FIA that the Lotus system was in contravention of the regulations.

News of the FIA ban was first broken on The Flying Lap webcast, when Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said on Friday night he had received a note from the governing body shortly before going on air notifying him of the move.

"The FIA has just banned that particular type of system," he said. Autosport