Although now deemed illegal by the FIA’s technical department and the Court of Appeal, the ‘mass damper’ saga has refused to go away in Turkey.
All around the Istanbul paddock, particularly with Renault now struggling to keep up with Ferrari, the argument about whether the governing body should have banned the system so late in the championship can be heard.
”It’s a strange time to discover this technology,” Sir Frank Williams wondered on Friday.
Ferrari’s Ross Brawn put the onus on Renault, however, after McLaren – ironically Fernando Alonso’s 2007 destination – informally protested the legality of the system in a letter to the FIA.
Brawn said in Turkey: ”I don’t know how much Renault informed the FIA about how it works.”
Renault chiefs, although pre-emptively accepting the Court’s decision, have kept a low profile so far this weekend, but Flavio Briatore could not hide his fury as he sat down with a small group of reporters.
”How is it possible that something that was legal is suddenly not legal?” the Italian fumed.
”It’s like deciding half way through a football match that one team has to use ten players instead of eleven.”
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
