From GMM
At the Valencia test this week, F1's governing body gave teams more details about the operation of the mandatory moveable rear wings in 2011. Drivers have been experimenting with the overtaking aid this week, with observers able to visibly see the rear wing open up on the straight to stall the downforce before it is clicked back into place at the braking zone. It has been feared that if chasing drivers are allowed to press the rear wing button too often, overtaking will become commonplace and uninteresting. So the FIA has told teams that if the chasing car is within a certain time of his rival - say, one second - he will be allowed to activate the wing only within a 600-metre zone at the end of a straight. These zones will reportedly be marked out with white lines, and Guardian correspondent Richard Williams reported that the one second gap will be calculated at the corner before the designated straight. "Further information, going into detail and the various scenarios still has to be clarified," said Ferrari's technical director Aldo Costa, adding that the wings for now will not be operated in the wet. "Then it will be a case of seeing how things go in the race to understand how to proceed," he added, suggesting that the rules may be tweaked depending on the outcome of the initial races. The early feedback from the drivers is that, combined with preparing and triggering KERS and watching for the rear wing green light, their cockpit workload is increasingly unreasonable. "It's just not enjoyable -- pressing buttons, changing gear, pressing and holding," said Rubens Barrichello. Of the newer generation, however, Fernando Alonso said he was beginning to get his head around the new functions after a few days in the car.
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