Telemetry problems linger for FIA
The Malaysian Grand Prix could be run without race stewards being able to implement DRS restrictions or operate cockpit warning lights, as was the case in Australia.
A glitch with the FIA's telemetry system looks set to cause problems for the remote control of both DRS and cockpit warning lights for the second grand prix in as many weeks, although the failure did not appear to cause too many problems in Melbourne as teams took responsibility for informing their drivers of developments on track.
Without the cockpit-mounted warning system, drivers have to pay more attention to the flags being shown trackside, although in Australia, there was also no means of recording the number of blue flags being passed by backmarkers while under pressure from frontrunners.
Drivers will again be asked to respect the DRS regulations if there is no automatic means of the stewards deactivating the system during wet weather or safety car periods. Teams will still be notified that the system has been 'disabled', but will have to pass the message onto their drivers and trust that they will not employ DRS until official notification that it is 'active' again. Drivers will also have to manually select 'safety car mode' from the cockpit as this cannot be done from race control.
