Why a Ferrari 2019 legality row has erupted now in F1

The topic was a hot one in the latter half of 2019, when Ferrari had a clear pace advantage and unhappy rumours circulated about why that might be. They concerned the fuel flow metering unit and whether Ferrari had found a way to circumvent it to exceed the maximum permitted flow. When governing body the FIA issued a clarification at the US Grand Prix to make it clear any such action would be deemed illegal, it happened to coincide with the end of Ferrari’s run of six straight pole positions.

So why is it back on the agenda now? Because on Friday the FIA issued an odd statement in which it said a review on the matter had been conducted, that it had “reached a settlement” with Ferrari, but that “the specifics of the agreement remain between the parties”.

The statement also said: “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.”

Unsurprisingly, there is uproar. The careful wording of the FIA’s statement doesn’t say it found anything illegal – but if Ferrari had given the all-clear, surely it would have said so. Instead, there’s an easy insinuation to make that something iffy was found, but rather than hand out a suitable punishment this late in the day the team has essentially got off with a spot of community service. It’s easy to see why the other teams are in a froth – and if the FIA genuinely thinks its statement would resolve the matter resolved, it has been astoundingly naïve.

Was the 2019 Ferrari running illegally or not? We all need to know, especially rival teams. Given the precedence set in 2007, when McLaren was disqualified from the whole season and handed an eye-watering fine of $100 million for acquiring Ferrari IP that might not even have influenced the design of its car, a slap on the wrist for this example won’t really wash.

We’ll surely be hearing more about this once the teams get to Australia for the first race – or perhaps that should be ‘if’ they make it to Melbourne. The growing Coronavirus crisis could well lead to the postponement of more than just the China Grand Prix. MotoGP’s opening round in Qatar is the latest event to be cancelled, which must place a big question mark against not only the Australian GP but also the Bahrain round that follows it.

But what about that testing form? Well, as ever, pre-season testing remained inconclusive. F1 is a science as well as a sport, never more so than in testing when teams are working entirely to their own agendas. But still, a consensus was drawn – and that pointed to Mercedes having the edge over the opposition once again.

It’s certainly safe to say the silver cars won the ‘winter war’. The pace of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas looked strong, and then there was the clever ‘dual-axis steering’ system that allows the drivers to change the toe angle of the front tyres. F1 teams love it when they manage to catch their rivals on the hop and this was a prime example, to the obvious delight of Merc technical director James Allison.

The only cloud for Mercedes was reliability, with engine failures causing disruption not only to the works team but also customer Williams. As for Ferrari, it denied it was sandbagging at any time during relatively unremarkable tests, while Red Bull – as ever – played its cards close to its chest. If Mercedes does have an edge on pace, we can expect both teams to be hard on their heels once the season gets underway.

The midfield? It’s tight once more. Racing Point looks strong with its ‘pink Mercedes’ – a car that holds a striking similarity to last year’s championship winner. Again, this topic could be a hot potato in the early weeks of the season, especially if Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll qualify and race ahead of McLaren and Renault.

All in all, typical F1, then. Expect the 2020 season to kick off – when and wherever that might be – already at boiling point.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.