HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- F1's Strategy Group has voted to free up radio communications from this weekend's German Grand Prix.
On Thursday the Strategy Group, consisting of the FIA, commercial rights holder (Bernie Ecclestone) and six teams, met to vote on Halo and a number of other key issues in the sport. One of those was the much-maligned radio ban, which has recently seen Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button penalised for receiving banned messages from their pit wall.
In a u-turn on recent technical directives, the FIA agreed to completely free up radio communication in races, with the exception of the formation lap when radio silence must be observed to prevent drivers being coached through start procedures.
"At the request of the Teams and Commercial Rights Holder, the FIA has agreed to adopt a more liberal approach to the interpretations of Article 27.1 (that a driver must drive the car "alone and unaided")," a statement confirmed. "With the exception of the period between the start of the formation lap and the start of the race, there will be no limitations on messages teams send to their drivers either by radio or pit board.
"This approach is aimed at providing improved content for fans and spectators, as teams will now be required to provide the Commercial Rights Holder with unrestricted access to their radio messages at all times that their cars are out of the garage."