[morini]

Only P1, but the RBR guys will be hard to beat this weekend. Intend to watch recording of P2 when I get home, so will be avoiding internet.

[Monster Hesh]

'member, BBC Radio 3 on the radio, zero spoiler chance!!

[morini]

Yes, will be avoiding radio as well. Leaving office at 3, so will be safe from spoilers on long drive home.

[Jody Barton]

Soooo, FP1 the top 6 or so is not far off of what I predicted right back on page one now is it? Sainze doing better than I thought, McLaren and Alonso plus the Haas boys struggling more than expected, but down to mechanical niggles rather than pace issues. All in all it's surprisingly predictable. FP2 will be interesting, but I think the Bulls will be hard to match around here, and it's only really Hamilton at the moment keeping them honest. We'll see how it is come Saturday, as I expect Ferrari will find a new way of burning some oil, and drawing more power from their batteries and be right up there...



Seriously though, has the FIA rulings on oil tanks, oil re-routing and and battery packs hit Ferrari harder than we thought it would? Were they really a bunch of cheating Italian barstewards at the first few races? I hope not.

[forzaferrari]

Didnt get to watch fp1 this morning, but did catch a glimpse of Sebs car, is there a `snorkle` type camera mounted left hand side of airbox as you look from head on perspective?

[morini]

Or maybe they are hiding their pace Jody? Like they always do in FP1/2.

[forzaferrari]

Seriously though, has the FIA rulings on oil tanks, oil re-routing and and battery packs hit Ferrari harder than we thought it would? Were they really a bunch of cheating Italian barstewards at the first few races? I hope not.

My bud told me the Fia have found nothing illegal re the Ferrari battery/electrical system after carrying out 2 spot checks at Baku and Spain but have asked them to install a secondary sensor for Monaco to completely rule out the accusations/suspicions....anyone confirm this?

[Jody Barton]

Seriously though, has the FIA rulings on oil tanks, oil re-routing and and battery packs hit Ferrari harder than we thought it would? Were they really a bunch of cheating Italian barstewards at the first few races? I hope not.

My bud told me the Fia have found nothing illegal re the Ferrari battery/electrical system after carrying out 2 spot checks at Baku and Spain but have asked them to install a secondary sensor for Monaco to completely rule out the accusations/suspicions....anyone confirm this?

I can confirm it's not true. The FIA clarified the ruies governing battery draw in Baku and also stipulated that there may only be one (plug) as it were for each battery, I think from Canada onwards, and that draw may not exceed a certain level across all outlets from Spain. Nobody said this was directly targeting Ferrari though, and obviously wasn't "illegal", although FIA clarifications normally make such "innovations" illegal. I have a feeling it has indeed hit Ferrari. We saw all Ferrari powered cars down in the speed traps in Barca.

As to Ferrari hiding their pace, of course they are, as are Mercedes, although they never hide it quite as much as the red cars. But 9 tenths down is further away than I expected. Hamilton's lap was neat and tidy, but he was hardly hanging it out round parts of the track too. If he hooks it up, he might actually be a genuine threat to the Red Bulls. Kimi and Seb did appear to be trying fairly hard, as was Ricciardo and Max. Bottas just got his set up all wrong... understeer in Monaco is a nightmare.

[forzaferrari]

I can confirm it's not true. The FIA clarified the ruies governing battery draw in Baku and also stipulated that there may only be one..

I just rang my bud to see where he got this info, turns out it was mentioned in the Sky commentary this morning.....what a doughnut....I thought he had got it from a reliable source haha

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Red Bull, Mercedes trust FIA over Ferrari legality

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-b...y-1041092/

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The FIA are to monitor Ferrari's ERS system after installing a piece of hardware that would make it impossible for the Scuderia to increase energy deployment outside of the legal limits

But as stressed by Motosport Magazine: 'The FIA’s Charlie Whiting has been very careful to underline that there has been no evidence that Ferrari has been running its unique double-in-tandem battery arrangement in an unscrupulous way. Data from the first five races is still being analysed by the FIA in an ongoing process, and Ferrari is co-operating fully' Uniquely, within the Ferrari’s battery casing are twin batteries in tandem – and this architecture is exactly as it has been since the beginning of the hybrid formula in 2014. What has been speculated from this year by rivals is whether this might allow a system whereby a second energy output to the ers-K could be used to momentarily boost the energy flow beyond the 120kW limit, by-passing the FIA sensors, possibly by way of a chip modulating the resistance between the two outputs.

This is what has been vexing Lauda who has been quite outspoken in his calling for the FIA to make a ruling on whether twin batteries are permitted. The FIA is not publicly responding to Lauda directly but points out there is nothing illegal about the architecture of the Ferrari system – and that if any team is convinced that something illicit is going on, it should lodge a formal protest

[PapaofGags]

My bud told me the Fia have found nothing illegal re the Ferrari battery/electrical system after carrying out 2 spot checks at Baku and Spain but have asked them to install a secondary sensor for Monaco to completely rule out the accusations/suspicions....anyone confirm this?

Hi Forza he probably heard it from Ted in FP1, that's where I heard it bud.

Doh, late again......