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Binotto hits back at Ferrari allegations

Published on 04 Nov 2019 14:16
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By: Dieter Rencken & Harry Mattocks

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has responded to allegations made by Max Verstappen that they were forced to make changes to their engine due to a recent FIA technical directive.

Before the US Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari was gaining large amounts of time along the straights due to their very high top speed.

However this advantage seems to have diminished since the technical directive was issued, leading to questions over the legality of their engine since the summer break.

Red Bull asked the FIA for clarification over a potential fuel system design, a design which was deemed illegal. Ferrari struggled massively for performance on Sunday in Austin, but Verstappen described this drop in performance as 'not strange'.

The Dutchman was not pulling any punches in the post-race interviews, saying 'that's what happens when you're caught cheating'.

Binotto was not happy with these remarks by Verstappen, and issued a statement at the start of his usual post-race media session: “I believe yesterday we have been very close to the pole position, as it has been in the last races.

"I think that Seb could have scored the pole yesterday, maybe [he was] a bit too much cautions in one corner."

“Charles had a clear problem in the morning, losing completely FP3, a downgrade on the engine we fit in the car, and overall I think that looking at his performance in Q3 and what could have been done without the issue in the morning, I’m pretty sure that as well he was potentially in the pole as well, so I don’t see where is the problem.

“If we look at the race today, we may comment later on, but certainly the speed on the straights was not our issue, while we’ve got clear problems on the grip on the car first stint both drivers.

Again, it’s the type of comments I feel are completely wrong. It’s not good for the sport and I think everybody should be a bit more cautious."

RBH1

Posts: 1,033

A Veto is also weird and not really fair racing. As is the 90.000.000 dollars for being in F1 for along time.

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Nov 4 2019 - 18:56

F1 News Max Verstappen Mattia Binotto Ferrari Red Bull Racing

Replies (11)

RBH1

Posts: 1,033
A Veto is also weird and not really fair racing. As is the 90.000.000 dollars for being in F1 for along time.
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- Nov 4 2019 - 18:56
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  #burn
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  Nov 4 2019 - 21:36
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  Obviously said by someone who doesn't understand the history of F1 and how those types of agreements were made. They are not the only team that gets legacy payments. Mainly your point has nothing to do with the content of the story. Just another example of an immature young man not knowing when to keep his mouth shut. VER I mean.
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  Nov 5 2019 - 01:39
- mcbhargav
  
  Posts: 1,332
  Here is the issue, if its wrong, F1 promoters would have revoked it is nt it? Is there anyone stopping them from doing it? When i was new to F1, used to think same. Cant blame you.
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  Nov 5 2019 - 14:56
Pistonhead

Posts: 556
Agree, Ferrari been taking the piss for years, too much power in one team - not good for anyone BUT Ferrari. That said, we don't have any proof they were cheating - that's a strong word, and it won't be the first team in F1 that have optimised any loopholes in regs if it is true either (Renault this year). I applaud Max for saying it how he sees it - I wish more racers were like this,
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- Nov 4 2019 - 20:38
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I dunno, I feel msot drivers these days are incredibly expressive. Most of them mention what they think of stuff. Albon, Max, Hammy, Vettel, Hulk, Perez, Grosjean.. The list goes on. Maybe I'm just more exposed to it, but I feel most of them are talkative.
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  Nov 4 2019 - 21:27
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I doubt they were directly cheating, they were probably just bending the rules in the same way they and Merc' were doing with the oil burning (what Merc' escaped from scathefree and Ferrari didn't lest we forget), or Renault did with the brake bias buttons. And even then, I kinda doubt it'll be a major setback for them. I think they have the better engine regardless.
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- Nov 4 2019 - 21:31
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  Hard to judge since no proper details have been revealed showing what Ferrari was doing. That being said, it seems to fit too well. While I'm sure Max was playing mind games and stirring the pot, I'm sure he knows a bit more about it than the public. I know one tactic by teams is to ask about the legality of a certain feature as if they wanted to implement it and then when it's rejected, they report it to FIA. That's exactly what happened with the Renault break bias system.
  
  Whether Ferrari has the better engine regardless still needs to be seen. I actually find it a bit ironic that at the same time Ferrari was rising, Alfa Romeo dwindled. I would have expected both to rise together.
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  Nov 4 2019 - 21:40
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  VER is just striking back like a snake that got poked by a stick, the stick of HAM and VETs opinions. He had a good clean race this weekend so there is no need for this kind of behavior. When he has a week when he's not sloppy on track, he goes and does something sloppy like this off track. He should have just been happy with a podium and kept his mouth shut instead of spreading lies.
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  Nov 5 2019 - 01:43
f1ski

Posts: 726
So what I am curious about when Ricciardo had a time thrown out for exceed fuel flow was Renault doing this to get caught or were they inept and got caught. Mercedes's ability to pull almost a second a lap from q1/2 in q3 basically disappeared after this. I would not be surprised if Ferrari was copying something they felt MB was doing and I wouldn't be surprised if Max is calling out Ferrari in an attempt to get MB to look at him.m The Honda engineers probably have said the only way to have a party mode is to increase fuel flow.
The way the Ferraris had no grip on the opening laps make it believable they were trying to use a higher downforce set up that didn't work in the race.
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- Nov 4 2019 - 23:33
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  From what I understand is that Ferrari found a way of interfering with the fuel flow sensor, in effect allowing them to run higher than allowed fuel flow. It will be interesting to see how Ferrari performance is the next races. Could you imaging if Honda did such a thing ... they would certainly get more punishment than Ferrari did.
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  Nov 5 2019 - 22:15