So, Ferrari were 'not exactly following the spirit of the rules' then?

[Flibster]

https://www.fia.com/news/fia-concludes-analysis-scuderia-ferrari-formula-1-power-unit

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.

A settlement was reached?

Anyone else feel that this is grounds for Red Bull to approach the FIA with a potential case for 2nd in the Championship? Hell, if Ferrari gained an advantage from something not exactly legal, then the gains they got from the FIA winnings should be returned.

Also explains why they said that their engine is behind where it was last year.

 

[pacegod]

Also, announced right at the end of testing, so no live press on F1 until Aus GP.

I hope Redbull do challenge it, they were cheated out of a possible second place.

 

[Moley]

If the benefit had been significant enough the FIA would have taken action. The most likely scenario here is that they investigated, saw that the technical advantage was outside of the spirit of the rules but also gave little to no advantage (depending on the circuit) and therefore decided no further action was warranted over telling Ferrari not to develop the capability further and issuing a rules clarification for the benefit of all teams.

 

[DeliciousStorage]

If the benefit had been significant enough the FIA would have taken action. The most likely scenario here is that they investigated, saw that the technical advantage was outside of the spirit of the rules but also gave little to no advantage (depending on the circuit) and therefore decided no further action was warranted over telling Ferrari not to develop the capability further and issuing a rules clarification for the benefit of all teams.

The benefit was clearly significant, I don't think there's much doubt about that. I think they're just trying to avoid a scandal, hence the timing of the announcement just after testing finished.

 

[cuke2u]

As there was no penalty or fine then no offence happened. Of course if mercedes turn up with something attitudes would be different, DAS?

 

[DeliciousStorage]

As there was no penalty or fine then no offence happened. Of course if mercedes turn up with something attitudes would be different, DAS?

A settlement suggests there was a fine.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

You don’t get fined for not “following the spirit of the rules”, you get fined for not “following the actual rules”.

That SF got fined means they were found to have broken the rules. Of course, this being between the FIA and SF, the fine won’t be anywhere large enough to be an actual punishment.

 

[Flibster]

As there was no penalty or fine then no offence happened. Of course if mercedes turn up with something attitudes would be different, DAS?

One team consulted with the FIA and they have come out and said they believe it's legal.
The other, went out of their way to hide it, got investigated and this is the result.

 

[Moley]

They've not actually been fined though - despite speculation on here. If the FIA fine you, there is a public announcement and an appeals process. This hasn't happened therefore a fine hasn't been levied on them - until evidence to the contrary surfaces.

 

[deuse]

Ferrari International Assistance

 

[Supernova]

Ferrari International Assistance

And still haven't won a championship for 13 years May that continue until Hamilton arrives.

 

[JRS]

So, Ferrari potentially exploit a loophole in the rules. No other teams make a formal protest. The FIA come to an agreement with Ferrari after the season that they won't do what they were doing any more, along with presumably the details of what they were doing so the FIA can monitor against such tricks more effectively going forward.

OcUK Motorsport forum response - "bUt WhY wErEn'T FeRrArI DiSqUaLiFiEd?!?!"

It's comforting to know that in a crazy, upside-down universe this place never changes

 

[JBeck]

They've not actually been fined though - despite speculation on here. If the FIA fine you, there is a public announcement and an appeals process. This hasn't happened therefore a fine hasn't been levied on them - until evidence to the contrary surfaces.

Well in this case it appears that the only thing made public was the announcement itself, everything else including their findings are being kept secret, and that doesn't smell to you?

I hope RB do make a legal challenge, you can't just investigate something and then keep the findings secret, the rest of the grid has a right to know in case they did gain an unfair advatnage from what they did or did not do and because of it other teams may have lost positions, status (to prospective sponsors) and above all, prize money.

What a farce.

 

[Flibster]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1233661740182908928

 

[jonchaz]

I think the problem is that Formula 1 needs Ferrari more than Ferrari needs Formula 1. So its always going to be one law for them and one law for everyone else.

 

[JRS]

twitter embed

The linked article makes a fair point - as angry as Ferrari's rivals will be, what about Ferrari themselves? What they were doing hasn't been ruled illegal, if it was then they'd have been DQ'd. But instead of coming out and saying to the world "hey guys, Ferrari didn't cheat, they did something that we didn't have a rule in place for because we're stupid" the FIA went this way.

 

[this_is_gav]

It does sound like Ferrari found a way to bend around the rules without explicitly breaking them. I expect that the silence is to protect relevant Ferrari PU secrets from making their way to other teams. The FIA have a duty to respect this with any such secrets - look at the concern of Renault's appointment of Marcin Budkowski.

Coincidentally some of the engines were smoking a fair bit in Barcelona, so there is a fairly large amount of excess oil burning still going on throughout the field, more than you'd expect. I have a feeling the quote "a number of technical commitments that will improve the monitoring of all Formula 1 Power Units" is the more significant story here and might hamper other teams who exploit similar loopholes, ones which Ferrari themselves perhaps explored and are aware of...

It will be interesting if the smoke traces from rivals will mysteriously disappear in the next few months.



Reposted here as I didn't realise there was a thread already (I swear I looked!)

 

[Danthus]

It was pretty clear that once the FIA caught wind of what was going in 2019 Ferrari all of a sudden pole positions ended for them.

And they still couldn't win.

 

[deuse]

It does sound like Ferrari found a way to bend around the rules without explicitly breaking them. I expect that the silence is to protect relevant Ferrari PU secrets from making their way to other teams. The FIA have a duty to respect this with any such secrets - look at the concern of Renault's appointment of Marcin Budkowski.

Coincidentally some of the engines were smoking a fair bit in Barcelona, so there is a fairly large amount of excess oil burning still going on throughout the field, more than you'd expect. I have a feeling the quote "a number of technical commitments that will improve the monitoring of all Formula 1 Power Units" is the more significant story here and might hamper other teams who exploit similar loopholes, ones which Ferrari themselves perhaps explored and are aware of...

It will be interesting if the smoke traces from rivals will mysteriously disappear in the next few months.



Reposted here as I didn't realise there was a thread already (I swear I looked!)

And the problem now is that no one knows what the loop hole was because the fia done nothing.
I bet that even if a team ask the FIA to look at the ferrari engine in 2020.
The fia will blank them say it's been sorted.

 

[GravyMonster]

And the problem now is that no one knows what the loop hole was because the fia done nothing.

That's the point of the press release. The FIA know what the loophole was and have now closed it. The FIA also now know what to look for when people try and bypass the various sensors on the car to enforce legality to prevent the same thing happening in future.