[LotusLover]

Ferrari continue to innovate.

AMUS are reporting Ferrari are under investigation for battery use.

" Ferrari is supposed to draw more energy from the energy store than the permitted four megajoules via a clever circuit of the battery cells. It is said that the battery has two plugs through which individual electrical power is drawn off. The FIA began its investigations on Saturday. On Sunday, all engine manufacturers received mail from the world association. They have to be delivered diagrams of how the energy is stored, delivered and distributed. If there are enough suspicions, batteries could even be removed. The topic could still occupy Formula 1 in the coming weeks.

At the technical acceptance Ferrari is currently under special observation.
When it comes to the question of how an outside team comes to such a hidden detail, there are two possible explanations. The one: The former Ferrari engine boss Lorenzo Sassi chatted. He has been working for Mercedes since April. Or the opponents it is Spanish that Ferrari uses the electric turbocharger for gas production when blowing the rear wing in the coasting of the engine. What is allowed, but electricity costs, which then can not be used to propel the car.

Background: When the driver goes off the gas, the electric machine drives the turbine. As when accelerating to fill the turbo lag. The compressed air is chased by the engine without combustion. The exhaust jet delivers so even when braking by blowing the wing a few points contact pressure. But this trick also costs energy that is missing elsewhere. The competition is now puzzling why Ferrari sacrifices energy from the electric storage for a small aerodynamic advantage. Is there an oversupply? Red Bull Chief Technology Officer Adrian Newey regrets: "We can not afford to blow it right now. It would cost us too much on the drive side. "

Or.... is this just MB trying to negate Ferrari in an underhand way, seriously the things teams will do to gain a win or advantage both sides of the coin. Hardly sporting is it if found to be (a) True or (b) False

[Jody Barton]

LotusLover, if it is true Ferrari are in serious, serious trouble. They'll most likely be thrown out of the constructors championship and face the heftiest fine since McLaren and spygate. It's also to be pointed out that the FIA only put teams under special observation if they have found "significant evidence and reason's to believe a breach of sporting regulations is occuring". So it's the old no smoke without fire argument. It would also explain why the Ferrari engines cars sound different when blowing their rear wings, which was first noted in pre-season testing in Spain.

If it is Mercedes trying to cause mischief it won't do a damn thing if there is no fire to go with that smoke. Teams ask for technical clarifications all the time. The FIA just make judgements on the rules, so I personally have no problem with this. If the FIA say all is good then the other teams play catch up, if not, well it's cheating and needs to be stopped.

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On a side note, if the Ferrari ERS systems are able to generate and store energy as is being suggested, and to exceed the 4 joules draw and distribute it to multiple systems... well, that just proves the point that Sassi is the King of KERS, as he was know during the V8 era when Ferrari were commonly considered to have the best battery and deployment system. If so it just confirms to me that Mercedes poaching him could have very serious implications for competition going forward.

[Monster Hesh]

I have been reading other comments and the odd article translation, that in Baku Ferrari had the whole investigation thing and their car was deemed legal. So I don't know.

One thing I'm thinking is: Why would Ferrari blatantly cheat?

They aren't stupid, they know with the amount of tools available to everyone, anomalies can be easy to spot.
As folk say Ferrari are Formula One, and vice versa, why tarnish their whole brand with a cheating scandal.
If they are blatantly cheating then it could mean they are on their way out, they hate F1 now and it's proposed future.

[forzaferrari]

I cant see any team blatantly cheating (even Ferrari lol) but I suspect they have found one of those `grey areas` and exploited it to the max. I havent read anything substantial as yet although I did read Ferrari had to make a few adjustments to the mirror surrounds as they where marginally outside the specs required according to RBR.

[Monster Hesh]

Yeah I've read about that too.


These little tabs on the top edge are what was required to make the legal.

Something I have learned this season is the 'Plan View Asphalt' rule. Basically the profiles of the floor and bodywork/aero components have to be matching. So here there are probably some "prongs" on the Ferrari floor that could be seen in 'plan view' so adding these tabs matches the "prongs", making it legal.

[forzaferrari]

"'Plan View Asphalt' rule"...can you elaborate a bit more on this for me?......I take it this is from a birds-eye view certain points of the car must not protrude beyond the floor profile or something along those lines??

[Monster Hesh]

Pretty much, I don't know the exact regulation and there's a second half to it, a view from underside (worms-eye) view. It's about seeing or not seeing asphalt or daylight in certain areas.

I found this on AMUS

"The rule is so complicated that not even seasoned engineers can explain it. Even FIA race director Charlie Whiting laughingly admits: "Even I push to my limits." It is about Article 3.5.4 of the Technical Regulations.

[Jody Barton]

There is a long and proud record of rule breaking at Maranello and then claiming it was lost in translation. Many is the time they've believed they've found a linguistic loophole, only to be told "nope, that's cheating". They were cleared on their oil re-routing system. Not on the battery system. All teams have to provide schematics and software showing how their batteries are used and the power from them deployed.

[forzaferrari]

There is a long and proud record of rule breaking at Maranello and then claiming it was lost in translation. Many is the time they've believed they've found a linguistic loophole, only to be told "nope, that's cheating". They were cleared on their oil re-routing system. Not on the battery system. All teams have to provide schematics and software showing how their batteries are used and the power from them deployed.

Ah come on now buddy, my team may push,probe, flex and even ever so slightly dare I say bend the rules but not intentionally flat out break them just like so many other teams through out the years

[Monster Hesh]

There is a long and proud record of rule breaking at Maranello and then claiming it was lost in translation. Many is the time they've believed they've found a linguistic loophole, only to be told "nope, that's cheating". They were cleared on their oil re-routing system. Not on the battery system. All teams have to provide schematics and software showing how their batteries are used and the power from them deployed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPtbyOOdMcQ