aral wrote: ↑17 Apr 2020, 20:11
please read the comment......it is a CONTRIBUTION, but if you want to interpret that as a punishment, then whom am i to argue? I read it as it is written, and a contribution does not necessarily mean it is any problem to them other than that the use of such fuels are to be considered and developed for road cars. You can be sure that petronas and the like are all developing such fuels already but just happen to be behind shell.
it was a compulsory contribution as part of a 'sanction', and Jean was quick to deny it was peanuts was he not?? Jean is tres clever of course and he has to tread this line between what the other teams were demanding and what was realistic when it's Ferrari in F1. He can't just DQ them can he, and that means he mustn't find them guilty of something that'd normally mean a DQ.
so he calls it a contribution, instead of a fine, keeps the amount secret and lets it be spent with their sponsor. Then he adds the second hack-proof sensor and issues this not-really-necessary announcement saying FIA weren't fully satisfied but can't totally absolutely prove anything. something for Ferrari, something for the others. Then in testing with the second sensor gerdoink Ferrari are slower and Mattia even has to admit it and say it's for reliability!
so the fuel research isn't about the 2019 Ferrari performance whatsoever, it's about a fine cleverly dressed as a contribution. Contributions are normally voluntary, but they don't have to be, that is clever old Jean choosing his words