Marc Gene has come out in opposition to the FIA’s ban on traction control for formula one next year.
The Ferrari test driver said the pinnacle of motor sport must be “careful” to ensure that it does not dumb itself down to the level of lesser racing series.
“We have to seek to keep the balance right,” Spaniard Gene, 33, is quoted as saying by the newspaper Diario As.
“As things are today, F1 is still the maximum in racing technology; but without the technology, is it really F1 any more?”
Gene disputes the theory that electronic driver aids necessarily rob spectators of a good show.
With traction control on board, for example, he points out that Fernando Alonso’s talent was still able to shine alongside his Renault teammate last year, Giancarlo Fisichella.
“Fisichella was always fourth or fifth and rarely out in front,” Gene explained. “The same was true at Ferrari, where Michael usually won and the second driver did not.
“Now, in 2007, in my opinion, the driver is still able to make the difference. At the moment I think we have the balance right.”
Meanwhile, after earlier insisting that diesel engines would be “feasible” for formula one, Gene now says that the technology is unlikely to ever be used in the category.
The Peugeot prototype he will race at Le Mans this year uses a diesel engine, but Gene now insists: “Even if (F1) teams were allowed to use diesel, I don’t think they would.
“Weight is so important in F1, but a diesel engine is much heavier. Something else that is important in F1 is the consistency of the (engine) power, and this is also more difficult with the diesel.”
