New Ferrari ‘illegal’?
Numerous teams, including McLaren-Mercedes, BMW-Sauber and Toyota, had questioned the design of the exposed exhaust pipes.
It was reported that the 2009 Ferrari contravened the new bodywork regulations cracking down on aerodynamic appendages like winglets and other accessories.
It now emerges that Ferrari has modified the design so that the pipes do not protrude beyond the allowed tolerance above the surface of the bodywork.
It should be noted that Ferrari's controversial design complied with the original 2009 regulations, but a clarification about exhaust pipes was subsequently made in September by FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting.
01/22/09 (GMM) A third formula one team has expressed concern about the questionable legality of Ferrari's newly launched F1 car ahead of the forthcoming 2009 season.
It has been reported that the F60 specification launched at Mugello, and currently testing at the same circuit near Florence, features exterior rear exhaust outlets that contravene the new technical regulations.
Mercedes' Norbert Haug and BMW's Walter Riedl have backed the report, and now the technical chief of a third team has announced his similar concern.
"The Ferrari has a few illegal features, like the exhaust pipe," Toyota's chassis technical boss Pascal Vasselon is quoted as saying by the BBC.
"We expect that to change as it is outside the regulations," the Frenchman confirmed.
01/20/09 (GMM) Chiefs at two formula one teams have confirmed their belief that the current specification of Ferrari's new F60 single seater is not legal.
A German magazine on Monday said the newly launched car, which is being tested alone at the Mugello circuit this week, features exterior rear exhaust outlets that contravene the new technical regulations.
Norbert Haug, in charge of Mercedes-Benz racing activities, is quoted by the German news agency SID as saying he believes the Italian team "will change" the offending feature before the Australian grand prix in late March.
"Who knows, perhaps we are talking only about the launch version," he said. "Every team knows that the exhaust pipes must be covered in 2009."
Similarly, BMW-Sauber's managing director Walter Riedl said he assumes that the launch specification of the Ferrari exhaust was merely "provisional".
01/19/09 (GMM) Ferrari's newly launched 2009 single seater, the F60, has been declared "illegal" by a specialist German motoring publication.
Auto Motor und Sport said the car, revealed last week at the Mugello circuit in Italy, features rear exhaust outlets that contravene the sweeping new technical regulations.
The magazine said some of the Italian team's rivals have noted that because of the new rules cracking down on bodywork appendages like aerodynamic winglets, exposing the exhausts in the way the F60 is designed is not allowed.
A glance at the other new cars revealed so far – the Renault, Williams, McLaren and Toyota – shows that their exhausts have all been mounted in-board.
Auto Motor und Sport said it should not be too much of a problem for Ferrari to redesign the exhaust housing, but it may help to explain the team's retreat from the Portimao group test this week to Mugello.
Officially, Ferrari decamped to Mugello because of adverse weather forecasts for this week, but the magazine said the F60 also showed a significant problem with its front wing when tested last week.
It is suggested that, in light of these challenges, Ferrari concluded that it should be conducting the car's first major test as close as possible to its Maranello base.