FIA race director Charlie Whiting has denied suggestions a second sensor on Ferrari’s controversial ERS has contributed to a drop in performance.
A report after the Russian Grand Prix claimed that the power advantage the Scuderia had over Mercedes had disappeared since the Singapore Grand Prix with the level of performance dropping.
That was then tied to a second sensor believed to have been put on the Italian team’s controversial battery system which has had suspicions raised over both the amount of electrical energy stored and deployed.
“I am not quite sure why that has happened, this drop in form,” Whiting told Autosport.
“There was some speculation that it is due to this magic sensor that we made them put on. I am not going to go any further than that, but I will say that from an engine performance perspective we don’t agree with what has been suggested.
“There is no link at all.”
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The Briton was less committal in his statements about the Ferrari following anger by team boss Maurizio Arrivabene over what he saw as a leak of secret or privileged information about the engine earlier in the year, something that actually led to a meeting between Whiting and the Italian in Japan.
This was highlighted when Autosport asked if Charlie could reveal when the second sensor was added to the car.
“No. If I do that, unfortunately, I will be telling you all about Ferrari’s car and hence I will be telling all the other teams about Ferrari’s car, and that is not something I can do,” he replied.