Ferrari-gate: Red Bull won't let FIA off the hook
Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko is still determined to hold the FIA accountable for its controversial secret dealings with Ferrari.
Marko has picked up the ball dropped by Mercedes' Toto Wolff and will lead a front of six teams demanding that F1's governing body divulge the terms of its confidential agreement with the Scuderia related to the legality of the team's 2019 power unit.
Ferrari's clever ploy last year that potentially allowed its engine to exceed fuel flow limitations was investigated by the FIA. But the complexity of the scheme prevented the governing body from clearly establishing whether the ruse was legal or not.
Instead, the FIA revealed that it had signed a confidential agreement with the House of Maranello pertaining to its power unit, the terms of which have not been disclosed to the teams.
The FIA response to the teams' request for information was qualified by Marko as "a very superficial statement".
Furthermore, the optics of the FIA's deal with Ferrari logically reflect poorly on the venerable institution and its president Jean Todt, whose son manages the career of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
"What can you expect from the entanglements with Ferrari. So the story continues," Marko told daily newspaper Austria.
Marko admitted to being surprised by Mercedes' sudden U-turn and defection from the group of seven teams.
"Wolff was the initiator of this letter," the Austrian told Motorsport-Total. "We were then extremely surprised that this withdrawal suddenly came."
However, it appears that Wolff's change of heart was dictated by Daimler chief executive Ola Källenius after the latter had spoken at length with Ferrari chairman John Elkann.
But even without Mercedes by his side, Marko fully intends to hold the FIA's feet to the fire moving forward.
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who know a thing or two about confidential agreements involving Ferrari, believes the FIA was wrong to divulge its secret deal.
"I think what the FIA have done, and shouldn’t have done, they came out with a press release saying that they’ve reached an agreement with Ferrari," Ecclestone told Autocar.
"What does that mean? An agreement for what?" he asked. "Either it was within the regulations but they don’t think it should be allowed, therefore, they just ban it for the future. Otherwise, I don’t understand what agreement you can have.
"You can have an agreement say: ‘Well, you were definitely cheating 100% and there’s not much we can do about it, now, because it’s happened, but we’re going to fine you for that’."
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