Race director Michael Masi says he has "no idea" if the FIA's clarification of the engine rules hurt Ferrari's performance in Austin.

With the Italian team's sudden loss of pace coinciding with the FIA's Red Bull-inspired technical directive about the fuel flow rules, Max Verstappen concluded that Ferrari had been caught "cheating".

Ferrari hit back hard against those accusations, explaining that Sebastian Vettel's suspension problem, an older engine for Charles Leclerc, and a setup that prioritised downforce over top speed all contributed to the pace in Austin.

"We have a lot to analyse and understand but we do not believe that the result reflects our real potential," team boss Mattia Binotto said.

"We had extra downforce for this circuit but we just didn't have the grip," he added. "Mercedes simply was better."

Leclerc confirmed that his big problem in Austin was a lack of "grip", not a lack of power.

"It certainly didn't help that I had an older power unit but the gap was not because of the engine," he insisted.

Michael Masi, the F1 race director, was not able to shed light on whether Ferrari had to make changes to its power unit operation in order to comply with the rule clarification.

"I have no idea if they changed anything," he said. "I leave that to the FIA technical team."

But he defended Red Bull's method for seeking a clarification about what the team obviously suspects is the source of Ferrari's huge earlier power advantage.

"Everyone knows that there is a process and it has been around for a few years now," Masi said of the request for clarification and the subsequent technical directive.


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6 F1 Fan comments on “Masi unsure if FIA ruling hurt Ferrari power

  1. ok then

    Love to know 2 things. 1. How did Red Bull know about what Ferrari had done so as to seek clarification on it. 2. If Red Bull are now happy then Ferrari must have made changes.
    FIA should be more open

    Reply
  2. david merringtion

    Ferrari do not cheet it was known they got more 50 BHP more from 2019 unit Red bull cheet max was last week lost pole so no more shit about Ferrari one big team 10 years ago was find 50 million pounds getting out of Ferrari wind tunnel information Ferrari got judgment so no more rubbish just JELLOS Ii have told this before if Ferrari left F1 thay will be no more F1

    Reply

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