Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, has banned F1 radio communication between drivers and their race engineers that relates to the performance of the car.

As part of their effort to improve F1, the FIA has decided to ban any F1 radio communications that may appear to make driving in Formula One seem too easy as a result of drivers getting instructions on how to drive their cars.

The fight for the 2014 Formula One Drivers’s World Championiship title between Mercedes team mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, in particular, has seen a number of examples of both drivers being coached with information from the pit wall about how they are performing against their team mate and where and how they can improve.

F1 radio messages are also often seen to advise drivers on where they can make changes in order to aid the performace of their cars but F1 race director Charlie Whiting has issued a statement to all teams informing them that these messages are banned with immediate effect.

Article 20.1 of the FIA’s F1 Sporting Regulations is being cited. The article states, “The driver must drive the car alone and unaided”.

Whiting’s message to teams regarding the ban on F1 radio communications read, “”In order to ensure that the requirements of Article 20.1 of the F1 sporting regulations are respected at all times FIA intends to rigorously enforce this regulation with immediate effect. Therefore, no radio conversation from pit to driver may include any information that is related to the performance of the car or driver.”

The ban on F1 radio communications has been prompted by fears that the amount of communication between drivers and their race engineers during races has increased to the point where drivers now seem like “puppets” steering the wheel.

The radio ban will include information about tyres, the condition of the brakes, fuel consumption, engine maps, ERS modes, fuel mix and differential settings. Formation lap instructions such as burnouts, gearbox sync, clutch bit point and brake and tyre temps are also banned. It seems like the only thing the race engineers will be able to relay to the drivers over the radio are messages about traffic, pit stop timing and, if the need arises, team orders. It seems that drivers will be looking at their pit boards more often now.

A recent example of such F1 radio communication which gained a lot of media and social media attention was when Nico Rosberg asked his race engineer for “driving advice” during the German Grand Prix.

Following the ban on F1 radio communications, teams still have the freedom to advise drivers on pit stop strategies and also on safety issues.

The ban will be discussed further in Singapore, ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, in order to clarify exactly what is and is not permitted.