Salo disclosed that the primary cause of the loss of power was due to the FIA punishing Ferrari and its client teams by requiring them to utilize less fuel.
- According to reports, as part of the punishment, Ferrari was required to use less fuel.
- Less gasoline meant that its 2020 engine performed worse.
- The same punishment was meted out to Ferrari customer teams as well.
Numerous whispers and rumors suggested that Ferrari had cheated with their 2019 engine. And while the team was unbeatable on power-hungry tracks in 2019, a sudden change in technical regulations brought on by an FIA inquiry produced a large loss in power, which is one of the key causes of Ferrari and its client teams’ extreme performance decline in 2020. Ferrari disclosed a covert arrangement with Formula 1 at the outset of the 2020 season, although the company wasn’t formally accused of wrongdoing. The renowned Italian team was subject to some penalties under the terms of the agreement with the authorities, according to former F1 driver and F1 Stewart Mika Salo, who was speaking to Finnish rally driver Kristian Sohlberg.
Salo disclosed that one of the primary causes of the lack of power was due to the FIA punishing Ferrari and its client teams by requiring them to utilize less fuel. Salo added of the Alfa Romeo team, which is employing a new Ferrari power unit, “They suffered from Ferrari’s cheat last year since they had Ferrari engines and were forced to use less fuel. So I think so Alfa Romeo may be in a strong position if they can perform at their best in the race this season.”
“They are permitted to run the engine at full capacity, albeit I’m not sure if it’s a new one. Due to Ferrari, they were not permitted the previous year “Salo elaborated.
Salo may be correct, but it is also true that Ferrari will introduce a brand-new powertrain in 2021 and may do the same in 2022. Both Mattia Binotto, the head of Ferrari, and Fred Vasseur, the head of Alfa Romeo, have previously declared that Ferrari will have a competitive power unit in 2021 that is not the worst on the grid.
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Ferrari’s cheating scandal punishment: less gasoline.
As part of their punishment for the 2019 “cheating” incident, Ferrari was ordered to “use less fuel,” according to F1 steward Mika Salo, who also informed fellow Finn Kristian Sohlberg.
In 2019, Ferrari courted controversy as opponents questioned the Scuderia’s significantly enhanced power unit.
The FIA began an inquiry after being blatantly accused of “cheating” by Max Verstappen of Red Bull, which resulted in the issuance of Technical Directives regulating fuel flow and oil burning.
The Scuderia and its customer teams struggled as a result of Ferrari’s engine losing power.
After what the FIA referred to as a “thorough technical study,” the organization that governs motorsports came to a covert deal with Ferrari months later, before of the start of the 2020 season.
As was to be expected, Ferrari’s competitors were not pleased and continue to call for the settlement’s specifics to be made public.
Former driver turned steward Salo may have just revealed a portion of that.
During a Twitch stream conversation with Finnish rally driver Sohlberg, the issue of what went wrong for Ferrari and its client teams was raised.
The three Ferrari-powered teams had a difficult time maintaining their 2019 pace in 2018, losing the most lap time of any team on the grid.
According to Salo, who is quoted by Soymotor, “They suffered from Ferrari’s cheat last year because they used Ferrari engines and were obliged to use less gasoline. Therefore, I think so Alfa Romeo may be in a fantastic position if they can perform at their best in the race this season.”
They are permitted to utilize the engine’s full potential, Salo said. I’m not sure if it’s a new engine. Due to Ferrari, they were not permitted the previous year.
The Scuderia finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship last year after failing to win any races. Alfa Romeo was eighth and Haas was ninth.
At the C41’s debut, he commented, “I think the relationship with Ferrari is going extremely well.”
“We held a lengthy meeting over the winter to discuss the areas of last year where we may not have performed perfectly.
“Our direction is good. The problem we had last year will probably be recovered in great part on their side, and the level of cooperation is improving.
Rivals are pressing Ferrari for information over the suspected Carlos Sainz testing rule violation, while the FIA is turning a blind eye.
Rival Formula One teams are pressing the FIA for information about cheating allegations against FERRARI.
The Monday following the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola, the Italian squad participated in a Pirelli tire test.
Although Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz’s teammate, had run in the morning session, Carlos Sainz was using a different floor design. This was discovered by keen-eyed teams.
There are specific guidelines for the tire tests. All parts must have been utilized in tests or races in the past and adhere to the technical rules. No experimental parts may be used.
The Italian team claims that they cooperated with the FIA, which has since cleared Ferrari of all wrongdoing.
However, dissatisfied teams are still not happy with the FIA’s lack of an answer and have urged the organization to be completely transparent.
Experts in public relations are well aware that Fridays are a good day to hide bad news. Additionally, if they want to drop something they hope won’t be noticed at all, they should do it late on a busy Friday when everyone is paying attention to something else.
It seemed like a deliberate move to try to limit the impact of what had been issued to wait until the moment when F1’s TV cameras were about to be turned off, team principals had already left the Barcelona paddock, and the world’s attention would be on who would top the final timesheets of pre-season running.
In fact, if you only briefly skimmed the FIA statement, you might be excused for thinking it was simply another tedious piece of bureaucracy informing you that the inquiry into Ferrari’s engine was over and not much had been discovered.
As a reminder, it stated the following:
“The FIA announces that it has ended its analysis of the operation of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 Power Unit and reached a settlement with the team after conducting extensive technical investigations. The parties will keep the details of the arrangement private.
“The FIA and Scuderia Ferrari have agreed to a number of technical commitments that will enhance all Formula 1 Power Unit monitoring for upcoming championship seasons as well as help the FIA with other regulatory responsibilities in Formula 1 and in its research on carbon emissions and sustainable fuels.”
However, when you take a step back and thoroughly consider the finely phrased sentence, you immediately realize that what really jumps out is what wasn’t expressed.
Due to the fact that the statement did not find that Ferrari had been using an engine that had been tampered with, it also did not guarantee that the team had been found to be in complete compliance with the rules.
And the fact that neither side has received a conclusive response has only served to strengthen suspicions that Ferrari’s actions last year were somehow improper.
When did Ferrari cheat in Formula One?
On the “Spygate” controversy that rocked Formula One in 2007, you could write an entire documentary. Ferrari’s suspension of chief mechanic Nigel Stepney was attributed to “irregularities uncovered at the Ferrari factory,” according to head of communications Luca Colajanni. Then Ferrari filed a lawsuit against a McLaren worker, eventually identified as lead designer Mike Coughlan.
Stepney had provided Coughlan access to a mountain of Ferrari documentation that was thought to contain about 800 pages worth of trade secrets, which Coughlan had instructed his wife to copy at a Woking photocopy shop. The chain of events began when the photocopier assigned to the tree-butchering exercise raised the alarm. The FIA also conducted its due diligence, despite McLaren’s findings that no Ferrari materials “had been transmitted to any other members of the team or incorporated into our cars.”
Although the FIA agreed that there was no proof that Ferrari’s design secrets were used to create the car, it did find that McLaren had been in possession of the documents.
New information, however, resulted in McLaren’s disqualification from the constructors’ championship and a whopping $100 million punishment. Although the drivers were free to compete for the drivers’ crown, the conflict between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso ultimately served to enable Kimi Raikkonen to swoop in and win the 2007 championship.
The Renault R28 driven by Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) collides with a wall. Sunday, September 28, 2008, Singapore Grand Prix, Round 15 of the Formula One World Championship
What went wrong for Ferrari?
Ferrari unintentionally installed a set of brand-new soft tires on Leclerc’s car during his first run in the final round of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Prior to handing him a fresh set of the red-walled compound for the last Q3 efforts, the team had planned to send him out on used softs for the first run.
Over the radio, Leclerc enquired about the tire call, to which the team responded, “Sorry, that was a mistake. After deciding against doing another run, he finished the session in fourth place overall, over eight tenths of a second slower than Max Verstappen’s best time.
After qualifying, Leclerc remarked, “I assume there was a miscommunication, it wasn’t a big deal. “But certainly I brought it up because I was a little taken aback.
After serving a power unit penalty, Leclerc will start the race from position 16 on the grid, one position behind title contender Verstappen who will also experience a grid drop.
Verstappen finished nearly six tenths of a second ahead of the competition after skipping his final run in Q3, highlighting his dominance at Spa.
Red Bull, in Leclerc’s opinion, had been “very strong” throughout the Spa weekend, and its speed had come as “a surprise, since I guess we anticipated to cut the gap in qualifying a little bit more.”
It is a wide gap. I thus hope that it will change in Zandvoort. But before that, tomorrow’s race is coming up, and we appear to be a little more competitive. We’ll see how it turns out.
George Russell, a Mercedes driver, has picked Verstappen to come from 15th on the grid and win the race. Verstappen acknowledged that he would be disappointed if he could not make a comeback to place third.
If he maintains his pace from today, Leclerc added, “I will also be sad if I don’t get back on the podium, but since he’s with me, it’s going to be very difficult for me to go back on the podium.”
But we never know, right? We can regain the lead with a strong first stint and a clean race, I’m confident.