FIA-Ferrari PU Statement Controversy

[Unc1eM0nty]

“The FIA will take all necessary action to protect the sport and its role and reputation as regulator of the FIA Formula One World Championship.”

The irony is strong in this one

[214270]

What an astonishing admission from the FIA; that they’re unable/incapable of policing their own rules.

That’s incredible and worrisome at the same time !

[Xwang]

Essentially the statement says the FIA suspected wrong doing but has no evidence and can’t prove it in a court of law. Even if Ferrari WERE cheating, I would be PISSED that the FIA is dragging their name through the mud when they themselves admit they don’t have a leg to stand on

The settlement certainly suggests guilt, which makes the fact a settlement was reached frankly disgusting.

The fact Ferrari isn’t in a complete and absolute rage about the FIA dragging them through the mud with no evidence also adds weight to them being guilty.

The teams are not going to take this lying down. I fully expect redbull to litigate

Finally someone talking some sense. I expect a full blown reply from all the teams. This might have just killed Ferrari's entire season.

And for the record, I’m a Ferrari fan.

It’s clear that Ferrari settled to prevent eventual litigation against them, indicating they knew what they were doing was in breach of the regulations.

If that wasn’t the case, they would have a thousand lawyers knocking down the FIA’s door for daring to suggest they were guilty while having no evidence to support it.

Again, I’m a Ferrari fan - but a settlement should not have been possible. I would have stuck by Ferrari even if they got sanctioned for cheating (rightly, if that’s the case). This is worse.

You are at home alone with your beloved black cat. Guards raid and accuse you of being a wizard. You say you are not, but they continue to be convinced that you are even after checking around several times and without finding any evidence.
They then tell you either kill the cat or go to the stake without any proof. What would you do? If you decide to kill the cat does it mean that you are really a wizard?

[bonjon1979]

What an astonishing admission from the FIA; that they’re unable/incapable of policing their own rules.

That’s incredible and worrisome at the same time !

They weren't satisfied the engine was legal. Well, that's a mealy-mouthed way to put it. I wonder if the difficulty is that they couldn't prove that it was used illegally during the F1 season. It doesn't matter what they found after the event, if if they weren't caught red-handed in a race in a provable way then you can see how legally it would be difficult. However, to not enforce their rules because they're worried about a legal battle is something of a green flag for every other team to do whatever the hell they want and then threaten legal action if the FIA doesn't back down. It's horrendous and keeps getting worse with every press release.

[turbof1]

The irony is that if the FIA published their last message first, the outcry would have MUCH less.

[Restomaniac]

How are 7 teams going to challenge the FIA decision? To prove Ferrari's guilt, they must provide undeniable evidence. If there was an informant / spy in Ferrari, his testimony could not be used as evidence, because this would immediately entail serious consequences for those in whose favor the spy stole. Hopeless situation for 7 teams.

You miss the point. The FIA’s statement is an admission that they think Ferrari cheated but they’re going to stop attempting to prove it. I doubt the other teams will settle for that and will insist (in court) that the FIA continue until they get to the bottom of it.

[wickedz50]

Either FIA and Ferrari attracting publicity or both are biggest idiots of this world.

[kimetic]

“The FIA will take all necessary action to protect the sport and its role and reputation as regulator of the FIA Formula One World Championship.”

The irony is strong in this one

Yes, "protect themselves" is what they mean.

[the EDGE]

This might have just killed Ferrari's entire season.

Well from what I am aware of, Ferrari have already said themselves their season may well be written-off, largely due to them going backwards in engine power as a consequence of this investigation

[jumpingfish]

How are 7 teams going to challenge the FIA decision? To prove Ferrari's guilt, they must provide undeniable evidence. If there was an informant / spy in Ferrari, his testimony could not be used as evidence, because this would immediately entail serious consequences for those in whose favor the spy stole. Hopeless situation for 7 teams.

You miss the point. The FIA’s statement is an admission that they think Ferrari cheated but they’re going to stop attempting to prove it. I doubt the other teams will settle for that and will insist (in court) that the FIA continue until they get to the bottom of it.

On what basis? What can they do to force FIA re-open the investigation?

[JPBD1990]

Finally someone talking some sense. I expect a full blown reply from all the teams. This might have just killed Ferrari's entire season.

And for the record, I’m a Ferrari fan.

It’s clear that Ferrari settled to prevent eventual litigation against them, indicating they knew what they were doing was in breach of the regulations.

If that wasn’t the case, they would have a thousand lawyers knocking down the FIA’s door for daring to suggest they were guilty while having no evidence to support it.

Again, I’m a Ferrari fan - but a settlement should not have been possible. I would have stuck by Ferrari even if they got sanctioned for cheating (rightly, if that’s the case). This is worse.

You are at home alone with your beloved black cat. Guards raid and accuse you of being a wizard. You say you are not, but they continue to be convinced that you are even after checking around several times and without finding any evidence.
They then tell you either kill the cat or go to the stake without any proof. What would you do? If you decide to kill the cat does it mean that you are really a wizard?

If Ferrari believes they’ve done nothing wrong, then Ferrari’s lawyers will be about to bring all sorts of pain upon the FIA for saying in a public statement:

"The extensive and thorough investigations undertaken during the 2019 season raised suspicions that the Scuderia Ferrari PU could be considered as not operating within the limits of the FIA regulations at all times.”

Innocent until proven guilty, right? The FIA couldn’t prove guilt - so the above is awfully inflammatory and burgeoning on defamation IF Ferrari is committed to a position of 100% innocence.

[kimetic]

You are at home alone with your beloved black cat. Guards raid and accuse you of being a wizard. You say you are not, but they continue to be convinced that you are even after checking around several times and without finding any evidence.
They then tell you either kill the cat or go to the stake without any proof. What would you do? If you decide to kill the cat does it mean that you are really a wizard?

Seriously. Tasked with defending the indefensible, what do you do? Start talking about something else.

[214270]

And for the record, I’m a Ferrari fan.

It’s clear that Ferrari settled to prevent eventual litigation against them, indicating they knew what they were doing was in breach of the regulations.

If that wasn’t the case, they would have a thousand lawyers knocking down the FIA’s door for daring to suggest they were guilty while having no evidence to support it.

Again, I’m a Ferrari fan - but a settlement should not have been possible. I would have stuck by Ferrari even if they got sanctioned for cheating (rightly, if that’s the case). This is worse.

You are at home alone with your beloved black cat. Guards raid and accuse you of being a wizard. You say you are not, but they continue to be convinced that you are even after checking around several times and without finding any evidence.
They then tell you either kill the cat or go to the stake without any proof. What would you do? If you decide to kill the cat does it mean that you are really a wizard?

If Ferrari believes they’ve done nothing wrong, then Ferrari’s lawyers will be about to bring all sorts of pain upon the FIA for saying in a public statement:

"The extensive and thorough investigations undertaken during the 2019 season raised suspicions that the Scuderia Ferrari PU could be considered as not operating within the limits of the FIA regulations at all times.”

Innocent until proven guilty, right? The FIA couldn’t prove guilt - so the above is awfully inflammatory and burgeoning on defamation IF Ferrari is committed to a position of 100% innocence.

The ‘settlement’ most likely negates that.

[bonjon1979]

And for the record, I’m a Ferrari fan.

It’s clear that Ferrari settled to prevent eventual litigation against them, indicating they knew what they were doing was in breach of the regulations.

If that wasn’t the case, they would have a thousand lawyers knocking down the FIA’s door for daring to suggest they were guilty while having no evidence to support it.

Again, I’m a Ferrari fan - but a settlement should not have been possible. I would have stuck by Ferrari even if they got sanctioned for cheating (rightly, if that’s the case). This is worse.

You are at home alone with your beloved black cat. Guards raid and accuse you of being a wizard. You say you are not, but they continue to be convinced that you are even after checking around several times and without finding any evidence.
They then tell you either kill the cat or go to the stake without any proof. What would you do? If you decide to kill the cat does it mean that you are really a wizard?

If Ferrari believes they’ve done nothing wrong, then Ferrari’s lawyers will be about to bring all sorts of pain upon the FIA for saying in a public statement:

"The extensive and thorough investigations undertaken during the 2019 season raised suspicions that the Scuderia Ferrari PU could be considered as not operating within the limits of the FIA regulations at all times.”

Innocent until proven guilty, right? The FIA couldn’t prove guilt - so the above is awfully inflammatory and burgeoning on defamation IF Ferrari is committed to a position of 100% innocence.

This isn't a court of law though either. If the FIA isn't satisfied that something is legal, then it's not legal to race. So shouldn't be allowed. I think they're going to all have to come clean about what exactly what went on as no one is going to be satisfied until it is. If Ferrari are 100% innocent as they claim, then surely they should just release the information so the public can see how squeaky clean they are.

[Restomaniac]

How are 7 teams going to challenge the FIA decision? To prove Ferrari's guilt, they must provide undeniable evidence. If there was an informant / spy in Ferrari, his testimony could not be used as evidence, because this would immediately entail serious consequences for those in whose favor the spy stole. Hopeless situation for 7 teams.

You miss the point. The FIA’s statement is an admission that they think Ferrari cheated but they’re going to stop attempting to prove it. I doubt the other teams will settle for that and will insist (in court) that the FIA continue until they get to the bottom of it.

On what basis? What can they do to force FIA re-open the investigation?

Test the rule the FIA have quoted to cover themselves in this statement. The point (again) is that I doubt this will vanish as it’s over Millions of Pounds and I get the impression Red Bull (for a start) are never shy of sticking it to others.

I get that as a Ferrari fan you want this to stop. However unfortunately I think you’ll be disappointed.