In Miami, Aston Martin was hit. Two weeks later, it almost hit Red Bull in Barcelona. The fuel only reached the required temperature before the pit lane was closed. And Ferrari compounded the problem for everyone.
We still remember the preparations for the start at the Miami GP. Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll’s starting positions remained empty. Instead, both cars were in the garage and both engines were running at a standstill. Aston Martin almost didn’t start the race. When the engines were started, they were eight degrees below the required limit. One car reached the required 18 degrees ten minutes before the start, the other three minutes. Only then were the green cars allowed to roll to the pit exit.
In Barcelona, people wondered why the two Red Bulls were so late on the grid. While the competition was doing their practice laps for the grid, the engines were already running in the Red Bull garage. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez did not take to the track until eight seconds before the pit lane closed. The team explained that the delay occurred to check the DRS mechanism on the cars. This had already caused problems for Max Verstappen in qualifying.
Return to the old fuel rule
When asked by the FIA, the team explained that the fuel temperature in the two Red Bulls did not comply with the required value when they opened the pit lane 40 minutes before the start. However, when the two cars left the garage it was. Otherwise, the technical delegate would have had to report to the stewards. The FIA inspectors can see the fuel temperature of all cars in real time on their screens. The inspection starts when the pit lane opens.
The limit has changed again since the Miami GP. In the first five races, it had been set at a fixed value, most recently 18 degrees, in consultation with all teams, regardless of the weather, due to problems with the standard fuel pump in the collecting tank.
But after one team vetoed the decision in Barcelona, the FIA had to revert to the old procedure. The rules stipulate a minimum temperature that is ten degrees below the outside temperature measured two hours before the start. At that time, it was 35 degrees. This meant that the fuel could not be cooled below 25 degrees.
The team that had lobbied for a return to the old system is said to be Ferrari. According to information from the competitors’ camp, this is not without reason: Mercedes and Honda experience problems with their engines during heat races if the fuel temperature rises too much. This can cause damage and cost performance the more the fuel heats up during the race. The Ferrari engines don’t seem to have a problem with this.
That’s why it’s in the interest of the teams with Mercedes and Honda engines to cool the fuel down as much as possible beforehand. Because with a lower starting value, it stays cooler throughout the race. From that point of view, the 18 degrees that still applied across the board in Miami are the easier task than the 25 degrees in sun-drenched Barcelona.
The teams do not agree on when fuel that is too cool is illegal. The rules state: “When the car is in use”. But what does that mean? Aston Martin feels this is the moment when a car is leaving the garage. Ferrari considers the car is in use as soon as the engines are started.
On that assumption, both the Aston Martin in Miami and the Red Bull in Barcelona would not have been in compliance with the rules. The FIA takes Aston Martin’s point of view. The decisive factor is when the car leaves the garage. And everything was in order at Red Bull. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto didn’t want to open a can of worms:
“I can imagine that the operations carried out by Red Bull were linked to the temperature of the fuel in the tank, which must be above 10 ° C below ambient temperature and it seems to me that by regulation this must be verified at every moment during the event, not only when the car is on the track, but also when it is in the garage. This is why I do not think that a flame to try to heat the tank would be enough, because the fuel should always be no lower than 10 ° C compared to the environment. I can only trust the FIA, because it is difficult to explain what we have seen, since, as I said, the fuel should always be above that minimum threshold. I’m pretty sure the FIA is satisfied and has checked. Perhaps you should directly asked them” – the Ferrari boss said.
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