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Update | 'Ferrari seems to have tipped FIA about engines from other teams'

17:00, 22 Aug 2020

byGPblog.com

The FIA has recently asked all Formula 1 engine manufacturers to pass on the exact workings of their ERS system to them. Among other things, the ERS determines how much power the MGU-K is allowed to deliver, and the FIA suspects that some manufacturers are exceeding the maximum amount.

According to Marc Priestley, they could do so in a similar way to how Ferrari manipulated the fuel supply last year, namely by disrupting or manipulating a sensor. Priestley thinks it is quite possible that Ferrari is now helping the FIA (as part of the deal that was made in February) to track down similar software from competitors.

Ferrari as 'informant'

"One of the things that was agreed is that Ferrari will help the FIA in terms of policing power unit usage in the future. Is this is something that Ferrari have been up to in the past and now believes that everyone else is doing it in a certain way?", speculates the former engineer of McLaren on his Youtube channel.

"I've spoken to a number of people and many people around Ferrari and Ferrari-powered teams now believe that they have the only power unit that is legally used at the moment. Others, who have not been investigated so strictly, may not be following the letter of the law right now".

According to Priestley, it may have major consequences for the future of this and next season if indeed it turns out that other manufacturers use a similar gap in the regulations as Ferrari did last year. The investigation into this is currently underway.

Update | Is Priestley getting right now?

Marc Priestley already suggested that Ferrari could possibly act as a snitch in Formula 1 and according to information from The Judge13 that is now actually the case. The Italian race team is said to have tipped the FIA off to investigate the engines of other manufacturers.

The FIA also suspects that the use of the ERS is not being played by the rules. That is why all engine suppliers have to send in their drawings and 3D images this week. In addition, the F1 also wants all the data of the specimen used. According to the aforementioned medium, the stricter controls on the ERS system will probably hit Honda the hardest.

Mercedes, in turn, will be hit hardest by the ban on qualifying mode. From the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the car will have to be driven in the same engine mode as from qualifying.