Expert analyst and Formula 1 paddock insider Mark Hughes reflects on rivals questioning Ferrari engine advantage:
“There is a very important distinction between the questioning by rivals of Ferrari’s power unit and the protest that’s been made by Racing Point over Renault’s alleged automatic brake bias adjustment system.
Rivals have queried the FIA about whether an oil-cooled intercooler might ‘inadvertently’ leak some oil into the combustion process, thereby increasing the calorific content in the otherwise fuel flow-limited engine.
This is what at least one of the other engine manufacturers believes Ferrari is doing, but it’s essentially only a guess. It follows from speculation about a way being found of cooling the fuel before it enters the combustion chamber and about how its double ERS battery may have been able to subvert the sensor. The FIA has not given a specific reply, possibly because to do so accurately would reveal something that is a legitimate competitive advantage. The governing body’s position on this specific query is that if a team feels another is breaking the rules then it should submit an official protest. This is very much aligned with the position the late Charlie Whiting took last year when the twin battery system was at the centre of speculation.
“We’re pretty sure we now know how it works,” said Charlie at Monaco last year after extensive explanations from the team. “It’s very clever – and as far as we’re concerned, completely legal.” In the way that the FIA is reacting to the latest query, it sounds as if it believes much the same this time around.” – Mark Hughes wrote for motorsportmagazine.com
Buy official Ferrari F1 products!
Leave a Reply