'Ferrari lags behind Mercedes and Red Bull, and goes on the offensive'

Mercedes—and likely Red Bull as well—have found a loophole in the regulations that allows them to extract more performance from their engines. That such a thing got leaked is undoubtedly thanks to one or more teams that lack this kind of approach and, thinking ahead to next season, realized they have a sizeable deficit. Honda, Audi, and Ferrari are those manufacturers in question.

Take a look these days at the media outlets publishing various rumors about the trick—especially used by Mercedes—and the common denominator is Italy. Ferrari is from Italy, a team that has friends in media everywhere and knows exactly how to steer them to push favorable information out.

It’s hard to imagine, after all, that an Italian newspaper like Corriere dello Sport is so well connected with Audi and Honda that those companies are the primary source. Yet this medium now regularly comes out with ‘news’ about the Mercedes engine.

It's also worth noting that these days, Italian newspapers are hardly active in the F1 paddock. They generally follow the Grands Prix from home, which suggests they don’t have a vast network beyond Ferrari.

It’s not hard to guess why Ferrari would go to great lengths to leak anything that can be. The Italians fear being stuck with an inferior engine compared to Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull, so this is the moment to ensure those teams’ advantages are nipped in the bud.

With more and more stories, the initial aim is to sway public opinion, in the hope that the FIA intervenes and bans the trick used by Mercedes and Red Bull Ford.

That is just Formula 1 these days. The battle is not only fought on track, but outside of it as well, even when the season has yet to begin.

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