MOTORSPORT: Many F1 questions, few answers

As Formula 1 fans sweat on whether the season will begin as scheduled, Ferrari’s rivals are demanding transparency on the investigation into the Italian team’s 2019 power unit and the mysterious ‘settlement’, while the governing body isn’t giving any ground.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation keeps saying it’s “all systems go” for next weekend’s season-opener in Melbourne, but the threat of disruption hangs over it from the Coronavirus.

In particular, there are concerns of the virus coming into Australia with F1 people from Italy, where more than 100 people have died from it.

Italy is the home of Ferrari and the AlphaTauri team – formerly Scuderia Toro Rosso and originally Minardi – as well as tyre supplier Pirelli.

Any F1 race in Melbourne without the participation of all 10 teams would not be an official world championship grand prix.

The Coronavirus cloud also hangs over Bahrain’s GP, scheduled for the weekend after Melbourne, and the new Vietnamese GP in Hanoi on April 5.

The Chinese GP in Shanghai has already been postponed from April 19 to a date to be fixed in a year supposed to have a record 22 championship rounds.

In any case, the seven teams that don’t use Ferrari power units – Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Renault, Racing Point, AlphaTauri and Williams – are demanding answers on the investigation and settlement regarding last year’s Ferraris that had such phenomenal straight-line speed for much of the second half of last season.

They say they were “shocked and surprised” at the statement from the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) a week ago.

“An international sporting regulator has the responsibility to act with the highest standards of governance, integrity and transparency,” the seven teams said in a joint statement midweek.

“After months of investigations that were undertaken by the FIA only following queries raised by other teams, we strongly object to the FIA reaching a confidential settlement agreement with Ferrari to conclude this matter.

“Therefore, we hereby state publicly our shared commitment to pursue full and proper disclosure in this matter, to ensure that our sport treats all competitors fairly and equally.

“We do so on behalf of the fans, the participants and the stakeholders of F1.

“In addition, we reserve our rights to seek legal redress, within the FIA’s due process and before the competent courts.”

The FIA has since responded, indicating it was not convinced Ferrari’s power units were always legal last year, but that it did not take further action [beyond the technical directive issued at the United States GP in early November] because of the difficulty of proving it.

“Extensive and thorough investigations undertaken during the 2019 season raised suspicions that the Scuderia Ferrari power unit could be considered as not operating within the limits of the FIA regulations at all times,” it said.

“Scuderia Ferrari firmly opposed the suspicions and reiterated that its PU always operated in compliance with the regulations.

“The FIA was not fully satisfied but decided that further action would not necessarily result in a conclusive case due to the complexity of the matter and the material impossibility to provide the unequivocal evidence of a breach.

“To avoid the negative consequences that a long litigation would entail, especially in light of the uncertainty of the outcome of such litigations and in the best interest of the championship and of its stakeholders, the FIA, in compliance with article 4 (ii) of its judicial and disciplinary rules (JDR), decided to enter into an effective and dissuasive settlement agreement with Ferrari to terminate the proceedings.

“This type of agreement is a legal tool recognised as an essential component of any disciplinary system and is used by many public authorities and other sport federations in the handling of disputes.

“The confidentiality of the terms of the settlement agreement is provided for by Article 4 (vi) of the JDR.”

The BBC’s chief F1 writer, Andrew Benson, has commented that the seven rival teams “are unlikely to be mollified by the FIA’s admission that it was unable to allay its own suspicions or their feeling that they were unable to prove them”.

“Teams are likely to see that as an admission by the FIA that it is not capable of policing its own regulations – a highly unsatisfactory position for a competition that is based on fairness and equality of opportunity,” Benson said.

“As such, it is likely that rivals will not accept this latest step from the FIA as a satisfactory conclusion and will seek further explanations.

“However, the FIA and Ferrari are likely to point to the regulations that cover confidential settlements such as this.

“These state that immunity granted in this way is subject to a number of conditions, including:

“Co-operating with the FIA in good faith, meaning telling the whole truth and refraining from destroying, falsifying or concealing useful information or evidence.”

“Providing the FIA with genuine, total and permanent co-operation throughout the entire investigation”, including “testimony in accordance with any request and in any form required by the FIA” and “remaining at the disposal of the FIA to reply swiftly to any questions it may have”.

What would F1 be without a bunfight?

Any revision of the F1 format at the Australian GP could mean a bigger involvement for the Supercars.

“We’re ready to go and we’re looking forward to a great weekend of racing,” said a statement from Supercars, which is holding the second round of its championship on the Melbourne street circuit.

The V8s are already slotted for four 20-lap races – one on Friday afternoon, two on Saturday and the fourth early Sunday afternoon.

The driver line-up in S5000 – Australia’s new premier open-wheeler category – is strong, with two F1 winners, Giancarlo Fisichella and Rubens Barrichello, as well as this year’s Williams test driver Jack Aitken.

The field also includes expatriate Australian James Davison, a multiple Indianapolis 500 starter and cousin of Supercar driver Will Davison, as well Alex Premat, who partnered Scott McLaughlin to victory in last year’s Bathurst 1000.

Local young gun Thomas Randle has been cleared to compete too for S5000’s inaugural Alan Jones Cup, with a chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer postponed.

And news today that domestic motorsport’s biggest name, Craig Lowndes, will race in the Porsche Carrera Cup at the GP with Grove Racing.