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FIA reaches settlement with Ferrari following power unit investigation

Published on 28 Feb 2020 17:55
5
By: Fergal Walsh

The FIA has reached a settlement with Ferrari after investigating its power unit from 2019.

However, it has not released its findings, stating that the information will remain between the two parties involved.

Much curiosity surrounded the Ferrari power unit in 2018, as the Maranello squad had a clear advantage in a straight-line over their rivals.

A technical directive was put in place last year to clarify engine regulations. Ferrari denied altering its power unit following its introduction.

An official statement from the governing body of F1 reads: “The FIA announces that, after thorough technical investigations, it has concluded its analysis of the operation of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 Power Unit and reached a settlement with the team. The specifics of the agreement will remain between the parties.

“The FIA and Scuderia Ferrari have agreed to a number of technical commitments that will improve the monitoring of all Formula 1 Power Units for forthcoming championship seasons as well as assist the FIA in other regulatory duties in Formula 1 and in its research activities on carbon emissions and sustainable fuels.”

At the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, Ferrari was fined after it declared an incorrect fuel quantity in Charles Leclerc's car.

The FIA has not confirmed that Ferrari's power unit was in breach of what is specified in the regulations.

For 2020, the regulations were modified slightly, as all teams must now have a second fuel flow sensor on both of their cars.

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Replies (5)

mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
If there is an Opportunity to first thump their chests and declare how great their findings are, FIA would have done it. The resulted findings are embarrassing to at least one of the parties involved, or may present legal troubles ( to FIA) if gone public. Summary: Ferrari don't have to pay penalty, but need to discontinue this trick for 2020 onwards.
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- Feb 28 2020 - 20:10
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I feel it is likely something similar to the DAS: the FIA had failed to specify a certain conditions clearly enough, thus Ferrari walked around it. Now that last year's season is over with, the FIA will likely try to avoid publishing their findings to save face, while altering the directions to make sure Ferrari won't do it again.
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- Feb 28 2020 - 20:16
- f1ski
  
  Posts: 726
  probably something that was used by mercedes but they stopped for fear it would tarnish their championship. Ferrari used it as well and MB let honda know what to question. MB probably used it for several years.
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  Feb 28 2020 - 21:17
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  More than likely. That said, I believe it was RB themselves what asked the questions, not Honda. Either way, while they benefitted from the correction, Merc' were clearly not pleased with how RB handled the matter.
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  Feb 29 2020 - 08:22
boudy

Posts: 1,168
Either way Ferrari was doing something that wasn't strictly legal. I thought that they would bounce the idea against the FiA to check if it was legal. They obviously didn't do that in this case. The whole thing stinks and smells like they got away with something rather illegal for those couple of races. This strengthens the position that Ferrari has a privileged position within the FIA.
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- Mar 2 2020 - 05:27