Ferrari secretly taped BMW pitstops – reports
It was reported earlier this weekend that Ferrari, the famous Maranello based marque, may have commissioned Rai or fellow broadcaster Sky to capture the special footage.
But Rai on Sunday denied "categorically" either receiving the request from Ferrari or filming the pitstops of any team.
05/24/08 (GMM) The newest 'spying saga' may be on a smaller scale, but it nonetheless has tongues wagging in Monte Carlo.
It is reported that, so impressed is Ferrari with the superior speed of BMW-Sauber's pitstops so far in 2008, that the Italian team took to secretly video-taping its German rival at recent test sessions.
Concerned that, on average, its pitstops have been 1 second slower than BMW's this season, Ferrari apparently commissioned the Italian broadcasters RAI and Sky to capture special footage of the Swiss based team's crew in action at the Paul Ricard test last week.
BMW team boss Mario Theissen told the German newspaper Bild: "If Ferrari sees us as a benchmark, we take that as a compliment."
It is rumored, however, that BMW's secret may be as simple as the fact that the F1.08 requires less fuel to be added at pitstops because it consumes less than its rivals.
McLaren's pitstops, according to the reports, are as much as 2 seconds on average slower than BMW-Sauber's.
BMW team manager Beat Zehnder told the Swiss newspaper Blick: "We are very proud of our fast guys."