As informed earlier today, the FIA has held talks with Scuderia Ferrari about the fact that the Maranello team used two different specifications of floors at the Impola circuit last week during the Pirelli testing session, as Ferrari gathered data for the development of the tyres for the 2023 season.
Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc was seen running with a previous specification of floor during the morning session of the Italian side’s test day, while his teammate Carlos Sainz continued the testing session in the afternoon behind the wheel of the F1-75 car. However, several rival teams questioned Ferrari’s plans and were intrigued about why Carlos Sainz was allowed to use a different floor – a situation that could have been in contravention of the rules.
Formula 1’s tyre test rules state: “Cars at these tests must only use components of a specification that have been used in at least one (1) race or TCC [testing of current cars] during the current Championship year. These cars must fully comply with the provisions of the Technical Regulations. No test parts, component changes or set-up changes will be permitted which give any sort of information to the Competitor that is unrelated to the tyre test. Mechanical set-up changes, driver control changes and component changes are permitted if agreed in advance with the tyre supplier that they are necessary for the correct evaluation of the tyres or to complete the tyre test.”
While the component tested by Carlos Sainz during the afternoon seemed to be an updated version which included an under-floor strake that teams are evaluating in order to identify solutions to reduce porpoising. As a result, two teams requested details about whether or not this had run before and if Ferrari had done anything in contravention of the rules.
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After a short discussion between the FIA and Scuderia Ferrari ahead of the first free practice session for the Miami Grand Prix to evaluate the components that were used, it is understood the investigation has been concluded very fast with the governing body admitting no illegality was committed. Despite the fact that there is no official statement regarding this topic, it is understood that Scuderia Ferrari’s change of floor for the afternoon of running was prompted by damage inflicted in the morning session.
The FIA was satisfied that the floor that was fitted to Carlos Sainz’s F1-75 car for the afternoon was actually an previous specification which had also been tested earlier in the 2022 Formula 1 seasin and was therefore in compliance with the regulation.
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