27/05/2018
NEWS STORY
The FIA has cleared Ferrari following speculation over the legality its energy recovery system (ERS).
Suspicion over the system's legality first arose in China, talk of the Italian team cheating exacerbated by Mercedes recruitment of a senior engine man from Maranello who is understood to have informed the German team's technical boss James Allison.
At the start of the Monaco weekend it was confirmed that the FIA was monitoring Ferrari's system, which, according to the speculation, was delivering more than the permitted 120kw from the MGU-K.
Though the systems were checked in Azerbaijan and Spain, it was claimed that Ferrari is using new software this weekend which the FIA is monitoring, though neither party was willing to comment.
Speaking on Friday, Toto Wolff and Christian Horner both said that were relying on the FIA to remain on top of the situation.
However, speaking on Saturday, FIA race director Charlie Whiting revealed that the Italian team was not cheating and that the situation was down to the fact that its system was more complicated than those of its rivals.
“We had some concerns in Baku that were difficult to explain and we worked through it with them,” said Whiting, according to Reuters.
“The rulebook says that it is the duty of the competitor to satisfy the FIA that their car complies at all times and they were having difficulty satisfying us,” he admitted. “We are now satisfied.
“Some things in the data we could not quite explain," he admitted, referring to the initial investigation, "we went through it with Ferrari and they gave explanations which were not particularly convincing.
“We wanted to really get to the bottom of it, and in Spain they took some measures to make sure we understood it more and that we were seeing things that we were happy with.
“The matter was exacerbated by unsubstantiated speculation that went through the paddock like wildfire,” he added.
And the cries of FIA = Ferrari International Assistance start in 3... 2... 1...
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