Ferrari denies added FIA sensor impacting performance

Maurizio Arrivabene has confirmed a second sensor has been added to Ferrari’s Formula 1 battery following a request from the FIA, but denied it is the reason behind the team’s recent dip in performance.

Ferrari’s battery first came under scrutiny following an inquiry submitted to the FIA by the rival Mercedes’ team over the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend in April.

FIA officials were satisfied with their findings after working with Ferrari to ensure the car was running within the regulations, but reports emerged earlier week in the German media claiming a second sensor had recently been added to the battery.

Ferrari has recently experienced a dip in performance against Mercedes, winning just one of the last six races as both the team and lead driver Sebastian Vettel have fallen to sizeable points deficits in their respective championships.

Speaking to German broadcaster RTL, Ferrari team boss Arrivabene confirmed that a second sensor had been added to the battery, with a spokesperson from the FIA also confirming to Crash.net this step had been taken.

However, Arrivabene stressed the move had not impacted Ferrari's recent performances.

“In the straight, we were absolutely ahead in Singapore, and in Russia, we were more or less like Mercedes in the straight. Where we lost was in the slow speed corners,” Arrivabene said.

“Our battery layout, it’s quite complex, so we agreed with the request that we had from the FIA to work together with them and to facilitate their work, we add a second sensor.

“But it doesn’t change in any case the performance of our car.”

Arrivabene went on to say that his bigger concern was the fact that information about the addition of the second sensor had become public knowledge.

“I think it’s strange that everybody knows about the second sensor, because I said that our battery is quite complex, but it’s also an intellectual property of Ferrari,” Arrivabene said.

“I hope that because everybody knows about the second sensor, in future, everybody, they’re not going to be informed about our project.

“That could be a serious matter.”