Formula One teams will not be able to use privacy screens in pitlane any longer after the FIA banned them on the grounds of safety.

Teams had previously used large dividing screens between the pitlane and the garage openings during “off-days” and in between track sessions to prevent spies from rival teams observing or taking photographs of their machinery while it sat on the garage floor.

FIA President Max Mosley said the use of screens could be hazardous if there was an emergency in pitlane and that they prevented access to the FIA watchdogs, who keep an eye on the teams at all times.

‘We just said no more screens,’ Mosley said in an interview with the “Autosport” website. ‘It was getting worse and worse, and it had got to the stage where it was ridiculous.

‘The problem is that if one team does it, the other team has to do it. That's what a governing body is for, it should come along and say no screens, and there are perfectly good reasons for doing that, reasons of safety and also we're supposed to supervise what goes on in the pits - in fact it says so in the code. But we can't do that if everybody is behind a screen.

‘The teams have accepted it completely happily. More and more people were complaining, and then we decided enough was enough. It seemed to be the right thing to do.’

The ruling is also positive news for Formula One fans, who were previously unable to watch the fascinating goings-on in the garages.