The 2018 Formula 1 season is well underway and again we have a close battle between the Mercedes of defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. However, there could be problems ahead for the Ferrari team as governing body, the FIA, continue to investigate their complicated battery system.
There have been rumblings regarding the new software that Ferrari have been using since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April. Rival teams aren’t happy about the unique twin-battery arrangement that the Italian team are employing. That led to Mercedes technical director James Allison approaching the FIA to get some clarity on the situation. Even their team of experts haven’t been able to fully explain what’s happening with Ferrari’s car.
Just what is the problem that they are looking into? The big question is whether the battery system Ferrari is using could be utilised in a way that would see an over the limit amount of power being produced.
Charlie Whiting – FIA Formula One Race Director, Safety Delegate
source: YouTube
Whiting commented that there had been “unsubstantiated speculation that went through the paddock like wildfire,” and that didn’t put FIA President Jean Todt in the best of moods as he declared, “If a team has some doubts, they could have made a protest. It would be much more healthy rather than to manipulate the press to address the problem.”
No official complaint has been made but with the rumours persisting, the FIA decided to make an investigation in a bid to get confirmation that the power that is being delivered to the Ferrari’s MGU-K is being achieved in a correct manner but despite no evidence of any wrongdoing, the FIA still doesn’t have a definitive answer.
That could change at the next Grand Prix that takes place in Canada on June 10. The new software is going to be employed which will allow closer monitoring and allow additional measurements to be made.
Whiting says that they need to “monitor exactly what the differences between the two halves of the battery are. That’s the crux of the matter.” Other systems being employed at present treat their battery as one rather than two as is the case with Ferrari and their system is far more complex. “That’s the fundamental difference, I don’t think it’s a secret I’m giving away there,” he added.
It’s not an easy task and the Formula 1 race director admits that Ferrari, although always being helpful, have been finding it hard to satisfy officials that their car complies with all the rules. “Some things in the data we could not quite explain… we went through it with Ferrari and they gave explanations which were not particularly convincing,” said the Formula 1 race director.
It seems this isn’t a problem that is going to go away anytime soon though. Fitting the sensors is going to be difficult said, Whiting. “It’s not just a straightforward matter of plucking a sensor off the shelf and putting it on,” Whiting said. “It needs better integration for that” and he admits that this may not happen until 2019. All of which causes a bit of a problem if Ferrari were to win this year’s title and the system would prove to be illegal.