F1 mirror ban delayed until Barcelona

F1 teams have been given more time to adjust to the new ban on outboard-mounted rear view mirrors.

It emerged in Malaysia on Thursday that this weekend's race at Sepang will be the last for the sort of mirrors seen on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars.

In Australia last week, veterans Rubens Barrichello and Pedro de la Rosa led the calls for better driver visibility, with mirrors increasingly integrated on flimsy aerodynamic bodywork mounted away from the cockpit sides.

But Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel said his team is "concerned" about the ban, which according to Thursday's reports was to come into effect ahead of the next race in Shanghai later this month.

But because the McLaren, Mercedes, Lotus, Virgin, Toro Rosso and Renault teams are not at all affected by the ban, the topic was apparently a bone of contention as bosses met at Sepang on Friday afternoon.

We reported speculation on Thursday that the fuss being made about mirrors may have been part of an effort to haul in the dominant pace of the Red Bull cars.

Red Bull and Ferrari, as well as Williams, Force India, Sauber and HRT, have now been given until the Spanish GP next month to remove the offending mirror designs.