Mercedes have requested clarification from the FIA about shared wind tunnel use, believing Ferrari are unfairly benefitting from their technical partnership with the Haas F1 Team.
It has come to light in Abu Dhabi this weekend that Mercedes have accused Ferrari of flouting the wind tunnel and CFD restrictions put in place by the governing body.
The German outfit believes Haas – which is using Ferrari’s wind tunnel – is passing information to the Italian outfit, which could benefit the development of its 2015 and 2016 cars.
Haas isn’t restricted to the 60 hours of wind tunnel time and CFD restrictions like Ferrari and its rivals are, because Haas isn’t yet considered an official F1 team until 2016, therefore it can use Ferrari’s wind tunnel continuously without breaking any rules.
Mercedes have suggested that Ferrari could be using its own personnel and parts, whilst sharing knowledge to benefit both parties unfairly.
It isn’t however the first time the issue has been raised. Ferrari brought a major upgrade to the Spanish Grand Prix in May which left its rivals wondering how they had developed such a huge upgrade in such a short amount of time.
That led the FIA to investigate the matter by sending their aerodynamics consultant and former Ferrari employee Marcin Budkowski down to Maranello to inspect the situation.
He found no issue and the matter was considered closed by the FIA, but it has now reappeared with Mercedes officially complaining to the race stewards via a 33-page document and demanding clarification on what is and what isn’t allowed.
