The upcoming ban on exhaust-blown diffusers could cause real problems for all the teams, according to Adrian Sutil.
The German believes the weekend will be a difficult one as the teams and drivers get used to much lower downforce levels through high-speed corners as a result of the ban.
“Silverstone is going to be a difficult weekend for everyone, completely without blowing, [especially] with the high-speed corners,” he said. “It might cause a lot of problems.”
However, if the engine mapping ban, which took place last weekend in Valencia, is anything to go by, Sutil is confident that Force India can make up ground as it didn’t have a major impact on their speed.
“I think we didn’t lose too much with the qualifying map rule in Valencia, probably Renault lost out a little bit more,” he speculated. “This was the first time that we could beat both of them, so it’s looking good.”
Many believe Renault and Red Bull will be the hardest hit, with the latter teams motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, suggesting his team could lose around half a second per lap, though they are prepared for such an eventuality.
“We expect to lose approximately 0.5 seconds per lap without the blown diffuser,” said Marko. “However, we made preparations to equalise this in terms of set-up and aero measures. We are optimistic that we will keep our performance level.”
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