All seven teams with no links to Ferrari have signed a statement calling for "full and proper disclosure" of the team's 'settlement' with the FIA.
As pre-season testing was ending last Friday in Barcelona, the governing body revealed an undisclosed agreement with Ferrari had been reached following a technical investigation into their engine from last season.
This came after it was suggested the Italian team was managing to circumvent the 100kg per hour fuel flow limit to the engine, giving them the power advantage they held throughout the season.
However, the secretive nature of the settlement and lack of definitive answers on whether Ferrari's engine was legal has led to a sharp response from all of their rivals.
"We, the undersigned teams, were surprised and shocked by the FIA’s statement of Friday 28 February regarding the conclusion of its investigation into the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 Power Unit," a statement, released by all teams excluding Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Haas, read.
"An international sporting regulator has the responsibility to act with the highest standards of governance, integrity and transparency.
"After months of investigations that were undertaken by the FIA only following queries raised by other teams, we strongly object to the FIA reaching a confidential settlement agreement with Ferrari to conclude this matter.
"Therefore, we hereby state publicly our shared commitment to pursue full and proper disclosure in this matter, to ensure that our sport treats all competitors fairly and equally. We do so on behalf of the fans, the participants and the stakeholders of Formula 1.
"In addition, we reserve our rights to seek legal redress, within the FIA’s due process and before the competent courts."
This puts huge pressure now on the governing body to release all details relating to their investigations into Ferrari's engine and could lead to further action down the line, should teams want to move to have the three Ferrari-powered teams potentially thrown out of last year's championship.
And with possible commercial benefits for the smaller teams on the grid, it is likely a path they would go down. Watch this space.
