FERRARI are at the centre of a cheat storm, with rival F1 teams pushing the FIA for answers.
The Italian team took part in a Pirelli tyre test the Monday after the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola.
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However, eagle-eyed teams spotted that Carlos Sainz was running with a different floor design to his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had run in the morning session.
The rules for the tyre tests are clear. No experimental parts should be used and all components must have been used in previous races or tests and comply with the technical regulations.
The Italian team say they have worked in cooperation with the FIA, who have now given Ferrari the all-clear from any wrongdoing.
However, unhappy teams are still not satisfied with the FIA’s lack of explanation and have called on the sport’s governing body to provide full transparency.
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McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: “I think what’s important is that we do have total trust in the FIA to police the sport, whether it’s at a test or a race weekend.
“But then we also need total transparency. It’s been suggested, or so I’ve heard, that maybe it was an older floor.
“Maybe that was the case. But I think what’s important is that if that’s the case, demonstrate that to the teams: just give us confidence that it’s been policed appropriately in total transparency.
“We’ve had in the past, not long ago, an engine violation a few years back, and then there was a significant fine. We don’t know how much and we also don’t know exactly what was done.
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“I think in today’s day and age, total transparency will help the sport understand what happened, why it happened and what’s been done about it.”
Brown’s reference points to the FIA’s handling of their investigation into Ferrari’s engine the team used in the 2019 season.
While teams suspected foul play, the FIA delivered the bombshell that it had “reached a settlement” with Ferrari but crucially added “the specifics of the agreement remain between the parties”.
Teams threatened a legal challenge as there was a feeling they were being denied access to the truth and demanded a full report.
And while the latest row is not sparking as much uproar, bosses have told the FIA they must have more clarity.
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi added: “I wouldn’t point a finger yet, because I don’t know the details, so that wouldn’t be fair.
“But at the end of the day, what we need is transparency. We need to know if there was something wrong or not and, if there is, what’s the outcome? The most important is that we don’t need a veil.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who in the past has had his own battles with the governing body, has called on the FIA to get on top of their scrutineering process.
He said: “The FIA just needs to be on top of these things. It can’t be that any team runs a component in an environment it shouldn’t be doing. And I guess if the FIA was not 100% on it, I’m sure they will be now.”
Meanwhile, while he is happy that Ferrari did not break the rules in this instance, Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, says the FIA need to ensure that no team takes advantage of the tyre tests to improve their cars’ performance.
He added: “The FIA have confirmed that Ferrari ran that floor in pre-season testing, so therefore it complies.
“It’s for the FIA to do that police work and due diligence, because what we certainly want to avoid is because these cars are so immature, it’s still very early in their development stage, that tyre tests don’t turn into aerodynamic or performance development tests. That is not the purpose of those tests.”
