Is Ferrari cheating in the 2018 F1 season?

On this weekend of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix the FIA Technical Directorate will be investigating the causes that could lead to the fact that Ferrari may be cheating this season, ignoring some points of the Formula 1 Technical Regulations.

This is why the FIA Board of Directors has been alerted after confirming during the last Grand Prix of China, strange sounds from the Italian brand's car engine on the pass through curves, which apparently are related to the blown exhaust system.

New Blower Exhaust System: A breach in the rules or an excuse to implicate Ferrari by cheating?

At the beginning of the year, the Renault team talked about this blown exhaust technique as an aerodynamic solution, after having been introduced by the governing body of the pinnacle of world motorsport in 2016, with the aim of improving the sound of engines. These two additional exhausts in the RS21 have been placed upwards, respecting the limit of the regulation, and apparently have achieved a plus in aerodynamic performance to the cars of Niko Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr. But the Ferrari team suspects that this system has gone further, making the application of it a voluntary act on the part of the drivers.

Legal or illegal aerodynamic improvement, voluntary or involuntary?

"We will not recognize valid engine maps developed for the specific purpose of increasing airflow in blower exhausts, as they pass through curves. In order for such engine maps to be allowed, airflow must be related only to the increased performance of the power unit" said Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Technical Delegate for Formula 1, after checking the steering wheels of Ferrari drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, where they found a new lever, placed just behind the existing ones, which could be related to the voluntary actuation of the blown exhausts at the bend, as an illegal aerodynamic improvement of the SF71H car.

For the moment, everything is handled in a suspicious tone and is considered speculative by the FIA and information sources close to the F1 Paddock, but it is hoped that this matter, which calls into question Ferrari's real evolution over the winter, will soon be resolved, and which has resulted in the start of the year with two victories for the four-time German champion, Sebastian Vettel, in the Australian and Bahrain GPs.