How can prohibited electronic functions be detected?
On site, at each Grand Prix, the FIA has an electronic laboratory as well as sophisticated equipment and a team of experts who, at any time (even on the starting grid!), may check whether the cars’ electronics is concealing electronic driving aids prohibited by the regulations, such as traction control. The electronics of a Formula One car comprise up to 500,000 lines of source code (software). Obviously, it would be impossible to carry out an in-depth check of such an electronic program, for example on the grid just before the start of the Grand Prix. Therefore, the procedure is similar to that used for the petrol. The teams provide the FIA with their electronic programme, and the FIA checks it in detail before the start of the season. Once the programme is approved, the FIA keeps an “imprint” (an electronic “genetic code” of the car); at the events, the FIA team assigned to check the electronic programmes makes sure that the programmes installed in the cars do not differ in any way f
