Villeneuve: Ferrari breach highlighted 'strange rule'
Jacques Villeneuve says he doesn't understand the rule that cost Ferrari EUR 50,000 in Abu Dhabi.
The Italian team was reportedly lucky to escape disqualification after a discrepancy was found between the fuel in Charles Leclerc's tank, and the amount that was actually declared to the FIA by Ferrari.
"It's one of those parc ferme rules that I don't understand," 1997 world champion Villeneuve told the Dutch publication Formule 1.
"They didn't have the amount of fuel on board that they said they had - who cares? Why can't you just have as much fuel as you want?"
Indeed, Ferrari did not breach the allowed 110kg fuel limit - only the rule about properly declaring the start amount.
"As far as I am concerned, the rule does not have to exist," said Villeneuve. "But it does, so you have to stick to it, but it remains a strange rule."
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Even the playing field, make everyone start with the same amount.
Spot on, Oldwit, same amount or make it free. Have you read the current fuel reg? A great example of the devolution of our sport. Sad.
Suppose a team decided to cheat by exceeding the 100KG/hr fuel flow limit, by, suppose, adjusting the fuel flow to be exactly 100KG/hr when the sensor is measuring, and, greater than the limit between measurements. The results would show a remarkable improvement in qualifying pace, but, would be hard to replicate in race conditions because the amount of fuel used would be greater than the sum of fuel measured passing the fuel flow sensor. They would be caught cheating. But, suppose that same team decided to lie about the starting level of fuel. If there were five kilos of extra fuel more than declared, and, about one hour of race occurs at full throttle, 105 KG/hr could be used at full throttle, with no missing fuel after the race! This is why declaring the exact starting weight of fuel is a critical measurement that must be strictly observed.
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