FIA looks into legality of the 2018 Ferrari
- Published on 25 Apr 2018 11:08
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Just as it surges to the front in formula one, the legality of Ferrari's 2018 car is coming under scrutiny. Marca newspaper in Spain says that after the Maranello team's car "sounded different" in the corners in China, the FIA's technical department was in touch.
"There are suspicions the SF71H is using special engine maps that blow exhaust to the rear wing of the car," wrote correspondent Marco Canseco. Earlier, 'exhaust blowing' attention was attracted by Renault, after the French team visibly angled its exhaust towards the rear wing on its 2018 car.
But it is Ferrari's engine maps that are now reportedly under scrutiny by former Ferrari designer Nikolas Tombazis, who now works for the FIA. "We do not accept engine maps that are specifically designed to increase the flow of exhaust in corners," he wrote in a letter. "To be permissible, such flows should correspond with maps that actually increase the performance of the power unit."
It's not the only part of Ferrari's 2018 car that is attracting attention. Marca reports that a mysterious extra lever has been discovered behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel's steering wheel. (GMM)
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Replies (11)
Login to replyRindtchamp
Posts: 304
Amusing how many years they happily overlooked the legality of the Merc. First with the S duct then the Fric suspension and their 'dodgy' illegal tests with Pirelli.. etc etc
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
'cept they clamped down on both the fric and tyre pressures...
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I'd rather see FIA enforcing rather than making exceptions. Besides, if this is somehow seen as disparate treatment against Ferrari, I think you'd find that Ferrari has been favored in most occasions. I still remember how in 1999 they were docked constructor points for illegal deflectors only to have them reinstated again later, a move which gave Ferrari the constructors championship.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
They should be far better at enforcing them yeah. No stupid exceptions like the one they had with Merc' last year. "So, uhm, you failed our tests and burn too much oil, but since you dont upgrade you get to carry on with that".... Thats some sharp regulating there!
reg
Posts: 162
Not forgetting the Mercs illegal oil burning either!
BorisHoris
Posts: 1
Except Reg, they where measured and passed all the regulations and also didn't produce an exhaust that smoked liked a wet camp fire.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
They failed those tests. Wanna know why they got through? Because they didnt upgrade post-regulation.
TimberVD
Posts: 42
So, they didn't fail the regulations because their spec engine was for the previous spec. That's not illegal, that's just strategic planning, if memory serves me well, it was compounded by the fact the Ferrari engine wasn't as reliable so they had to upgrade, where the new engine had to submit to the new regulations. I don't like it, but it was clever of Mercedes. Ferrari certainly would of done the same if they could of.
f1ski
Posts: 726
I agree with the Mercedes favoritism. How is it you design the rules and after one season of dominance the rules are structure not to allow teams to redesign?
Mercedes is probably the one issuing the protest.
OldFatJoe
Posts: 5
I have to wonder IF that "mysterious extra lever" is even connected to anything. It wouldn't be the first time in racing history that mind games were being played...... As far as the sound in the corners goes...that extra paddle can make the mind run wild........ :)
Mr.Useless
Posts: 18
Tombazis, the aero "genius", as Aldo Costa sarcastically remarked when he himself was sacked from the team where it was decided that they wanted to keep Nicholas instead. So, a few years later, the genius is not doing any aero work for any F1 team, and is now a genius motorist, having his personal revenge on the team that booted him? All the while, Costa is doing great at merc what he was doing at Ferrari - aero. Yeah, Ferrari surely booted the wrong guy first.