softest tyre lap from Bottas 1:15.732 (2/10ths off his pole lap last year)
Looking in the F1.com live timing that’s on the medium and 1.3 quicker than the next fastest (Ocon) who was running the soft.
If that’s right then that’s mighty lap time and will have the others a bit worried I think.
I get the feeling, given this is the end of an era Merc have done what Williams did with the FW14 and 15 and thrown everything at making the ultimate car of its era. Pushed every rule to the limit and pushed the tech too. Their rear suspension is particularly interesting and perhaps the real innovation ahead of DAS.
I wouldn’t be suprised if the Merc steering trickery is there to distract from something else even tricker on their car. The rear suspension has already been noted, they could be running sometthing else, too.
My guess about the Ferrari engine (based on a bunch of postings by F1 journos) is that the FIA couldn’t prove that whatever they were doing was technically illegal, but told them they have to stop doing it because it was contrary to the intent of the regulations. Hence Ferrari weren’t accused of cheating, but weren’t publicly cleared either. The agreement was because the FIA wanted Ferrari to explain exactly what they did (so they could monitor for it in the future), but Ferrari wouldn’t do that unless they had a written assurance that they would not be formally charged.
As it stands, it looks very dubious, so Ferrari have been publicly embarrassed. I think the other teams just want to keep it in the news to keep the embarrassment level up for as long as possible. Nothing will come of it because the evidence that Ferrari provided won’t be eligible in court because of the agreement they signed, so nobody can actually prove that they were… ummm… not exactly abiding by the spirit of the rules.
The big question that needs answering though is would any other team/engine supplier been treated differently? The fact that Todt is the FIA President while this has happened will not sit well with a lot of people. I know the standard joke is it stands for Ferrari International Assistance but surely with an ex-Ferrari Team Principle at the helm you’d think they’d do everything they could to prevent any favouritism accusations.
I wonder how many teams are calculating the loss (in millions) that those “technically legal” engines cost them?
One – Red Bull. There’s no way McLaren would have beaten Ferrari even if Ferrari had to lose whatever trick thing they were doing with their engine. Red Bull don’t care about the prize money, they will want this to stay in the news to embarrass Ferrari.
My understanding is that the engines were strongly suspected of violating the fuel flow rule which is worded as follows:
“5.1.4 Fuel mass flow must not exceed 100kg/h” Pretty black and white.
But Ferrari came up with with a way of defeating the sensor (for example by pulsing the fuel at times they know the sensor is not measuring) therefore the accusation could not be proved. Further fire was poured on the flames with LeClercs fuel inconsistency.
It’s also clear their performance took a massive positive step change when they got it working and another when they had to stop using it.
I mean look at how messy LeClerc’s quali lap was at Singapore. He had a few big oversteer moments yet still set a purple in S1 and took pole.
hols2
Red Bull don’t care about the prize money, they will want this to stay in the news to embarrass Ferrari.
Maybe not their primary motivator but …
Red Bull Sports Director Helmut Marko specifies: “We’ll lose a double-digit million amount if we finish third instead of second. Not only because more is paid out for second place. Our sponsorship contracts are also performance-based. I suppose it’s the same with the other teams.”
Posted 4 years ago
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