Doubts about the visit of FIA delegates to Ferrari have been dispelled. Thanks to further confirmations received today by the Italian website funoanalisitecnica.com, we can assert that the International Federation’s inspection at the Maranello headquarters did indeed take place. As we had anticipated in the past few days. Although the cars were not present due to the imminent race weekend at the Albert Park circuit in Australia, in addition to checks on CAD sources, it is quite easy to imagine that other specifications were present in the factory.
And in fact, after a very discreet inspection—carried out by some FIA delegates pushed by the constant complaints of various teams, including the one from Milton Keynes—Ferrari was declared completely innocent. These inspections are not strange at all. They are standard procedure. It is certainly not the first time that officials from the governing body have visited the factories of top-tier motorsport teams, especially those competing at the top of the standings.
The FIA’s approach to Ferrari and the other teams
There is an important clarification we must and want to make: the claim regarding the “legality check” conducted a week before the launch, which would supposedly make further FIA inspections unnecessary, is completely misleading. Formula One is full of these stories. They hardly need to be pointed out, but we will do so anyway. This kind of thing happens in almost every racing season nowadays.
Despite the fact that the FIA’s initial checks were already carried out with positive results—otherwise, the cars wouldn’t even be allowed to compete in the championship—it has become a recurring pattern in recent seasons for the governing body to backtrack. The reason? Reviewing ambiguous technical solutions due to relentless pressure from rival teams. The most recent example? Last year’s McLaren with the “mini DRS” affair.
That situation was initially deemed legal during FIA checks, only for the governing body to later, in a clumsy attempt to avoid controversy and not disrupt the championship, subtly suggest that the Woking team remove the disputed wing. A suggestion that was promptly followed—how curious, right? Not to mention the various technical directives issued mid-season in recent years to ban certain teams from using specifications deemed non-compliant with regulations. So… well… it’s time to take off the blindfold, gentlemen! Enjoy the season
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