09/04/2020
NEWS STORY
Other than the Grand Prix, the abandoning of the Melbourne weekend caused F1 fans to miss out on a couple of tasty rows away from the track.
Besides the threat of protests at the (t)Racing Point, there was the ongoing row over the FIA's (mis)handling of its investigation into Ferrari's 2019 engine and all that followed.
In the build-up to Melbourne there was talk of legal action by seven very unhappy teams, while the FIA, standing by its decision, stood firm in the face of a pitlane peasants revolt.
Rest assured however, that when the season does get underway, the 'rebel' teams will continue their quest for justice, and while Mercedes - seemingly on the instructions of Daimler-Benz has called it quits, Red Bull shows no sign of being fobbed off.
Talking to Autosport, FISA president, Jean Todt insists that the FIA wanted to make its findings public but was thwarted by Ferrari.
"If you ask me, I would love to be able to give all the details of the situation, but they opposed," said the Frenchman, and former Ferrari boss.
"So, they have been sanctioned but we cannot give the detail of the sanction," he added.
"Clearly we could have said nothing," he continued, "but we felt that it would have been wrong not to say that the Ferrari case had been discussed and that there had been a sanction."
With its various bonuses, its veto over the rules - including who should and should not be in charge at F1 - it really does appear that the Maranello outfit has free licence to do as it pleases.