Coulthard warns F1 over ‘audible’ problem as Miami regulation changes loom

David Coulthard is looking forward to what the regulation changes bring to the Miami Grand Prix. Speaking exclusively to GPblog, he broke down his thoughts on Mercedes and Red Bull's qualifying 'trick' and on the management required with the new regulations.

Mercedes and Red Bull Racing were said to have found a way to deploy the full power of their engines (350 kW) at once rather than gradually. As GPblog understands, however, the gain was too small for Mercedes to continue using the system after the Chinese GP.

Coulthard said, "If it is, as I understand from what I've read on the periphery, if it's something that was, let's say, exploiting a loophole that was not in the intended spirit of the rule, it's only a question of when it would be cracked down rather than will it be cracked down."

One example the former F1 driver gave of a 'grey area' moment was the 'B' version of the Brabham BT46. Bernie Ecclestone's team ran the 'fan car' for only one race in 1978. He said: "It did one race, won it. It was really, really quick, and then they withdrew the car voluntarily because they knew that no one else would be able to compete, and then it would be banned at the end of the year anyway.

One thing Coulthard hopes to see at the Miami Grand Prix under the new regulations is drivers being able to push consistently in qualifying and during the race.

He added, "Grand Prix racing has always been an element of management, whether it was fuel or tyres or brakes or all those things. But I'm very much hoping that we don't have this very audible and clear reduction in speeds in the sort of way we saw in the first few Grands Prix."

The Miami GP kicks off this weekend at the Miami International Autodrome at 21:00 BST. With the new regulations and upgrades in play, who will manage to come out on top?