F1 Insider -- Are The FIA Really Biased To Mercedes?

DISCLAIMER: These are all my own opinions - If you don’t like other people’s opinions or can’t handle the truth, please go elsewhere.

• P.S. Sorry this post is a bit late, I’ve been having internet troubles.

After the events of the 2018 Brazilian GP, many are questioning the integrity of the FIA - the governing body of all European Motorsports.

During incidents in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton supposedly blocked the Williams of Sergey Sirotkin and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. Some have even questioned Lewis’ sportsmanship, and others have questioned why Lewis was not penalised. Take a look at the qualifying highlights below:

Why was Hamilton not penalised?

So why was Lewis not penalised? The lack of a penalty has caused most to suggest that the FIA are biased towards the Mercedes team. Why?

Many have stated that Lewis intentionally blocked the Williams of Sergey Sirotkin, which is absolutely crazy. Why would Lewis want to block a Williams?

The reason Hamilton was not penalised was due to the fact that both cars were on their out laps. Sirotkin simply wanted to get a better run at a fast lap, Hamilton clearly didn’t need the run up. Radio traffic was analysed and it was found out that neither driver was made properly aware of what was happening ahead on circuit, or behind.

Same happened with the Ferrari. Lewis was not made properly aware of Raikkonen, who had just started a fast lap, so he held his line. However, rules state that a driver should not change their course while on a slow lap. So there is an argument as to why he should’ve been penalised.

There were other incidents in qualifying though - most notably the Grosjean/Bottas incident (0:13). Grosjean was hogging the inside line at turn 12. Grosjean however made no attempt to move out of the way.

Another incident that is hardly mentioned is the Gasly/Force India incident (I don’t know which one). One of the Force India cars blocked Gasly (who was on a fast lap) into turn 2. Gasly then vented his frustration over the team radio with a couple of special English words. I don’t believe this incident was televised - but you can find the incident on Toro Rosso’s Instagram page. Take a look below:

So are the FIA really biased to Mercedes? In my honest opinion, No.

You may argue that I’m saying that because I support Mercedes (which I don’t) and that I support Hamilton (not really). I don’t see why the FIA need to be biased towards Mercedes. They’ve been horrible to the team in the past, most notably the 2013 Tyregate scandal.

The team ran a private test with Pirelli, unbeknownst to FOM, with their two main drivers and their young drivers from their programme. Mercedes were later snuffed out and banned from that years Pirelli tests and banned from having a young driver programme for 2013.

Many have also questioned the “illegal” rims that Mercedes have been running to help manage rear tyre wear. Many fans (especially those of a Ferrari nature) have called the wheels illegal. Well, newsflash! The wheels were never deemed illegal, as they have not been classed as a movable aerodynamic device.

But are the FIA biased to any other team? Here’s my evidence.

Ferrari

As many of you probably know, I don’t like the Ferrari team, or their drivers that much. Ferrari have been around the sport longer than any other team, and may continue to stay in the sport for an awful long time to come.

Ferrari have been questioned several times about their connections to the FIA, but not very recently. Here’s why I think that the FIA are biased towards the Scuderia. Starting off with the most recent evidence.

The ‘Illegal’ Battery - Many non-Ferrari fans, myself included, have questioned Ferrari’s hybrid battery system. Ferrari started off rather well this year. Winning the first two races of the year and out-performing Mercedes at several events this year.

But just before the Monaco Grand Prix, a couple of teams launched complaints that Ferrari may have been using an illegal battery system with their 062 Evo power unit. The FIA later cleared the team as they were found not to be in breach of the electrical deployment regulations.

As the season wore on, Ferrari started winning several races and generally performing very well, much to the delight of the fans. But they’ve only won two races since the summer break, why? - because the FIA have since put another sensor on the battery to check of discrepancies in their data.

Ferrari say that their drop in performance is not due to this sensor, but I believe it is due to the sensor. Of course they wouldn’t admit that they have an illegal battery, there would be an uproar from other teams’ fans, then they would have to be disqualified, but I believe they’ve not been disqualified as Ferrari are in the FIA’s pocket, and they can control them whenever they want.

2017 United States GP - How about that overtake. Now I’m not a fan of Verstappen in any way shape or form (as you probably know), but I was thoroughly impressed with this overtake. Max finished third in the race with Raikkonen in fourth. But in the cool down room, Raikkonen appeared with Matteo Bonciani, the FIA’s head of communications. Max was given a post race 5-second penalty for cutting the track.

Now after reviewing the footage, I was totally in assent of the penalty, but I was still staggered at how fast Verstappen was demoted. Usually, grid demotions or disqualifications happen after the race and podium celebrations have finished. Raikkonen was promoted the third before the podium had even started.

In all my years of watching F1, I’ve never seen a driver be demoted so quickly down the grid (even when a Ferrari is later involved). Look at Mexico 2016, it took many hours for the FIA to decide what they wanted to do, the final result being Vettel getting a demotion.

The Entire 2000-2004 seasons - And how about that finish at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix?

Some may argue that Ferrari got a ‘special’ treatment from the FIA during the Schumacher/Barrichello era, which is very true. Ferrari recieved little to no penalties, even when clearly breaking the rules, and then there were team orders.

Rubens Barrichello was made to give Schumacher his win at the 2002 Austrain GP, after Barrichello was told to move over on the last corner of the last lap to, and I quote, “Benefit the championship”. Schumacher later gifted the trophy to Rubens on the podium, thinking what he was doing was right, but the team were later slammed with a heavy fine.

1990 Japanese GP - How about a little bit further back? Everybody knows the story really. The title fight between McLaren’s Ayrton Senna and Ferrari’s Alain Prost came down to the Japansese Grand Prix, for a third year in a row.

Senna scored pole, with Prost’s Ferrari scoring second place. However, Jean Marie Balestre later decided that pole position should be moved to the dirty side of the grid, he did not release an official statement as to why he did this, but we all know why - to benefit the Ferrari. At this point, Ferrari had not won a drivers title since Jody Scheckter did it in 1979.

Senna later crashed into Prost at the start of the race, handing Ayrton his second F1 title…

1960 Italian Grand Prix - Let’s take a little look down memory lane. The year is 1960, Jack Brabham has won his second Formula 1 world title, and the second-to-last race of the season was in Monza, Italy - Ferrari’s home track.

1960 was really the year that nearly all major teams swapped from front, to mid-engined configurations. The front-engined Ferrari Dino 246 F1 (pictured) proved to be very un-competitive, so what does the FIA do? They sanction the use of the Monza oval of course.

Even back in 1960, the Monza oval was seen as extremely dangerous, so that’s why the sports big teams like Cooper and Lotus decided to step away from the race when they heard the oval was being used. This gave Ferrari the perfect opportunity to take what would be their only win of the 1960 season. Ironically enough, they’d go on to win the 1961 Drivers’ title with Phil Hill and the 1961 Constructors’ too!

Ferrari’s Special Bonus! Now not many people know about this, but Ferrari get a special bonus from the FIA, just for being Ferrari. How much do you reckon? $1m? $5m? Maybe even $10m? Nope, completely wrong.

Ferrari get a bonus from the FIA - just for being Ferrari, for $100 000 000 a year! That’s 100 million dollars! A hundo-million dollars! Which is absolutely absurd! There’s no other reason why they get special funding, they only get it for being a heritage team that’s entered every F1 race.

And they still can’t use it to build a championship winning car, haha. With next year’s budget cap coming into place, they’re set to lose their special bonus due to Liberty Media and their no bullsh*t ways.

So there you have it people, my reasoning as to why Hamilton was not given a penalty in Brazil, and why the FIA are ultimately biased towards Ferrari.

Sorry if you feel offended at this post, but it’s the truth, and nobody can accept the truth in this modern day and age can they?

Thanks all for reading, drive safe,
675LT_ftw, The F1 Insider.