Ferrari squad AF Corse has opted to file an official protest with the FIA against the Balance of Performance adjustments made to its GTE Pro cars at the Bahrain double header.
Stewards received an official protest from the Italian team against two particular BOP bulletins: the initial power reduction ahead of the Six Hours of Bahrain and the slight increase that was given to the team after the six-hour event.
The team’s cars in both GTE Pro and GTE AM were handed a power reduction of roughly 25 horsepower ahead of the first of two races at the Bahrain International Circuit.
After that race, in which Porsche dominated Ferrari in GTE Pro, Ferrari GT boss Antonello Coletta called for a reversal of the change. The Ferrari camp was subsequently given update BOP, which restored half of the power taken away in the initial bulletin.
According to FIA documents, AF Corse filed an official protest on Friday. During a second hearing on Saturday, AF Corse specified that the protest has been filed in its capacity as a competitor in GTE Pro, meaning the protest only apply to the #51 and #52 cars that compete in that category.
Ferrari is competing in a tightly-contested battle for the GTE Pro title with one race remaining. After the second adjustment, Ferrari was considerably off the pace in the first free practice session, but ended up topping the second session.
