Teams frustrated by common ECU

Several F1 teams have expressed their annoyance with the FIA’s move to a common ECU in 2008. The deal was put out to tender and won by McLaren Electronic Systems, in a joint venture with Microsoft. The news was announced in July 2006 but the subject has come to the fore recently as teams have finally begun track-testing cars equipped with the new engine management system. 

Ferrari and Renault, the first teams to get a car on track, have said they’re dissatisfied with both the cost and the man hours required to hone it. Teams are also uncomfortable about the amount of information they’ve been obliged to pass to a subsidiary of a rival. However, McLaren continues to insist that MES operates totally independent from the McLaren Racing F1 team.

A key aim of the common ECU is to allow the FIA to finally banish traction control altogether.