Did Ferrari cheat?

On Friday, Felipe Massa took part in a filming day at Fiorano. He was lucky enough to drive three Ferrari's - the 458 Italia, the 458 Challenge and finally, the 150º Italia. I didn't report on this at the time because all the pictures I saw looked like the old car. Here are some of the pictures from the day:

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As you can see, Ferrari do not appear to be running any new parts on the car, and nothing is visibly different, apart from a higher rear end - the effect of more rake.

Last year, FOTA made an agreement that when doing these filming days, you can only use components that have been raced before. As this is a FOTA agreement, the FIA cannot take any action if Ferrari did test new parts.

Since all pictures indicate that Massa was using the Shanghai spec car, it makes you wonder why Ferrari suddenly decided to just do this filming day. If the car is the same as Shanghai, what advantage are they gaining? I can only think that want to check the effects of running more rake, and maybe a bit of testing for wind tunnel calibration purposes.

At the time, Scarbs posted this tweet:

http://twitter.com/#!/ScarbsF1/status/64057781300371457

I can't see any pictures of the exhaust, but the endplates and sidepods are exactly the same. Now media reports are emerging that Ferrari did in fact test new parts: http://bit.ly/lGwRoc We didn't get any proper shots of the rear suspension or diffuser.

The question is, did Ferrari cheat?

 

Ferrari have always been good at pushing the rules to the limit, I don't know why the other teams don't do more 'filming' days, any testing is useful.

Ferrari may be going against the spirit of the rules, but I'm sure they've not actually broken any here.

 

They've been doing this for ages. These filming days are a weak excuse to do illegal testing. Why exactly do a team need to do a filming day? Surely they can get some decent shots of the car without running it at a test track. FOTA have to close this loophole, it's ridiculous.

 

I thought they already did that last year:

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/f1-teams-change-filming-day-test-rules-22465.html



Maybe Ferrari believe they can get away with it?

 

Did Ferrari cheat?

Does the Pope pray?

 

I think the in season testing ban is a joke anyway.

What is wrong with allowing a total number of days to a team over the whole of the year, say 20 days, and allow the team to use those days as and when they want and for whatever purpose they want i.e. filming, new parts, a mixture of both.

 

Same old same old then. personally I doubt if they're alone, I doubt there is a team there that doesn't bend the rules. for me the F1 technology war is a question of which team manages to circumvent the rules te best, Double diffusers, hidden electronics, flexi wings. It's all about finding the loophole and exploiting it.

 

Ferrari have broken an agreement amongst the teams

They have cheated their competitors

It's not about bending the rules or finding loopholes, they have broken a gentlemans agreement to gain an underhand advantage

Like the agreement to not use Kers last year, that was not in the rules and was just an agreement

Mclaren could have broken the agreement and used their Kets which was better than the rest

But they kept to the sporting agreement

Ferrari didn't, and therefore cheated

IMHO

 

I wouldn't be so sure. It has been reported by some media sources that Ferrari were cheating, although it has not been proved. Naturally, with the convenient timing of this filming day, suspicions will arise, but until it has been proved, you have no right to make claims that they were cheating. I can't see any new parts on the car:

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Renault did a promotional run in Spa just there....Mercedes did it last year along with Ferrari.

 

So why are you asking for opinions on whether Ferrari cheated?

Do you understand what a public forum is for?

 

I don't think you understand my point. You said "Ferrari have broken an agreement"

Prove it.

 

My humble opinion is that they are upto no good whatsoever

Opinions don't need proof

Only useless FACTS do

 

"Ferrari have broken an agreement" is a statement, not an opinion.

 

An opinion can be stated

 

I can't see any pictures of the exhaust, but the endplates and sidepods are exactly the same. Now media reports are emerging that Ferrari did in fact test new parts: http://bit.ly/lGwRoc

Reporting facts or opinion?

 

I thought that these filming days were to be run on special tyres providing grip level equivalent to an old Fiesta (hyperbole obviously) therefore removing any benchmarking possibillity and rendering any data gained as worthless

 

It has been reported that Ferrari are cheating ****s

My opinion is that there remains a strong likelihood of this, giving certain facts about the team, it's recent history and personnel

 

Moreso McLaren however what with a record fine for stealing data directly used in design of 2008 championship winning car, lying to stewards etc. Recently the only infringement made by Ferrari has been on the rule on team orders, a rule that has vanished since due to its stupidity and unenforcability

 

Did Ferrari cheat?

Why would you jump to that post that suspicion? Anyone would think F1 fans doubt that Ferrari play by the rules, or even the spirit of the rules.