Ferrari once again escapes punishment SMH

[airshifter]

"I know you're guilty , but I can't prove it " doesn't hold up in court .

It seems to only hold up in a court where the decision of "guilty" was determined before the fact. Call them cheaters, take away points, money, apply fines, etc...... but never prove guilt.

After the suspicions raised last year, the FIA conducted an investigation and couldn't prove anything, even intent. They have essentially admitted that they think Ferrari found a way to cheat, but they don't understand it well enough or have evidence that they did in fact cheat. Rather than commit to long and costly litigation matters, they offered a settlement. In a "black and white" case, the litigation wouldn't be long and costly, unless Ferrari wanted to throw vast amounts of money at a losing case.

The lack of transparency within the FIA is much more disturbing to me than any accusations against Ferrari. Behind the screams of "cheaters" last year, the FIA introduced the new directives and answered questions concerning fuel flow meters, attempts to circumvent them, etc. And while the cries of "cheaters" now switched to the chants of how Ferrari was suddenly down on power, Ferrari actually topped some of the straight line speeds on track after all that happened. Both Ferrari powered cars and Honda powered cars made big gains as compared to Mercedes, who had somehow had the dominant engine package for years without the chants of "cheaters" as they powered past their competition.


I don't think the FIA investigation is sure of anything. I think the only people who are sure of anything are those that will apply bias towards their favored team, or against opposing teams.


If anything at the current time, I think Ferrari have been wronged by the FIA statements. Either there was evidence of cheating or there was not. If there was evidence of "gray areas" being pushed through loopholes, clarifications should take place through further technical directives. They have recently done the same with the DAS system, and new regs prohibit it in 2021. If they was no such evidence, then the FIA should not release "gray area" statements, as it brings Ferrari into question regardless of any actual wrongdoing been known.

Mercedes held engine advantage for years without anyone seeming to have a full understanding of how they were making that power. They appear to have been the first to surpass 50% efficiency in their cars. In a body now fuel controlled, it's just as possible that Ferrari somehow found a small advantage in efficiency, and that Honda did the same, while Mercedes stalled in development due to having been farther ahead and already having raised the bar closer to limits of current tech.






As far as a comparison to Spygate, this is not even similar at this time IMO. The investigation into Spygate allowed drivers immunity in exchange for cooperation. It was revealed that emails between de la Rosa and Alonso discussed the information that was stolen, with sources named within them. This was after Mclaren had denied any distribution taking place.

Renault were found to be in possession of Mclaren information, but were not fined as no evidence existed that is was ever distributed or used.

I would fully expect that if any further investigation is taken into the current matter, and evidence of cheating is found, that Ferrari would pay a large fine and most likely be stripped of WCC points and payouts.