Ferrari on 2019 engine: "The secret deal is normal"

Mattia Binotto took another look at the allegedly illegal 2019 Ferrari engine before the Imola circuit Grand Prix. He himself denies all the allegations and states that Ferrari haven't broken the regulations and that it is logical that the other teams have never been able to see what has been discussed between the FIA and the Italian team.

"The FIA has never seen us do anything illegal, otherwise we would have been disqualified," he begins the interview with Sky Italia. The Italian then stresses once again that no other Formula 1 team have protested (yet). "And no opponent have protested. If there had been a flagrant irregularity, I would have expected every opponent to protest".

Red Bull and Mercedes just don't agree

Halfway through this year, Helmut Marko has repeatedly pointed out that Red Bull haven't forgotten that Ferrari tampered with the fuel supply on last season's engines. The team of Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon is missing out on some 24 million euros in prize money. However, it did not come from a protest because other things had to be resolved with the coronavirus first.

It is not clear whether Red Bull will take any further action against the FIA and Ferrari. What is certain is that Mercedes, too, are not happy with the way things are going. Team boss Toto Wolff, like Marko, indicated more than once that the last word has not yet been spoken about this. It is also unclear what the German world champion's attitude is to making protests.

In the end, the International Motorsport Federation and Ferrari made a deal. A thorough investigation never took place. "They would have led to a waste of energy and costs on both sides. The agreement was to say: let's focus on the future and let's help each other understand the grey areas".

The Maranello race team believes that it is logical that the content of the deal never came out. "The secret deal is normal! Should we have shown everyone our engine and secrets? I don't think anyone has ever done this in F1 and no one ever will in the future," says Binotto.

Binotto refuses to admit

Finally, the 50-year-old top man wants to make it clear once again that Ferrari haven't broken the rules. "We have been in the grey area [PU] for the whole 2019 season, until winter, when a directive was made with our help that prevented certain things from being done on the power units. This had an impact on everyone. But it hurt us more than others as seen currently."