FIA closes Red Bull loophole

Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull during last weekend's German Grand Prix (Getty Images)

The FIA has clarified its technincal regulations in order to force the Red Bull team to change its engine torque mapping after the controversy that arose at the German Grand Prix last Sunday.

It was unusual for the technical delegate Jo Bauer to make a public referral of the maps to race stewards, and though they deemed Red Bull's system of reducing torque to boost airflow around the exhaust area in order to enhance aerodynamic performance was not illegal, they felt tied by the wording of the regulations and did not accept Red Bull and engine supplier Renault's arguments in defence of their mapping. Now teams must supply a baseline map for approval by the FIA, which may not then vary by plus or minus two per cent.