Australia – Red Bull: For Horner, Ricciardo’s fuel flow was correct

The FIA sensor incriminated

The FIA technical regulations state in Article 5.1.4 that the fuel flow must not exceed 100kg/h. As such, the FIA has approved a sensor to monitor this flow, which must be installed by teams on all single-seaters (Articles 5.10.3 and 5.10.4). Christian Horner questions the functioning of these sensors: « These sensors provided by the FIA have already shown problems across all teams since their implementation. We have observed significant measurement discrepancies; these sensors are not reliable, » he stated to our British colleagues at Autosport.

The Red Bull team replaced this sensor on Saturday morning before the last free practice session by reporting measurement discrepancies to the FIA: « The sensor provided to us was not functioning properly, we calculated the fuel flow based directly on the flows to the injection. Since the injectors are calibrated, no variation is possible. There was a large difference between the values from this sensor and reality. »

The director of Red Bull warns about a performance skewed by this sensor: « We believe in our view of the facts, if we had followed their recommendations, we would have significantly lost power. We find ourselves in a situation where the calibration of your sensor will dictate whether you will be performant or not ».

The FIA had warned Red Bull several times.

Horner also confirms that the FIA had alerted the Red Bull team several times: « They informed us that our flow was too high and that we needed to reduce it. We replied that we had serious doubts about the effectiveness of their sensors ».

The FIA states on this matter that it attempted to warn Red Bull several times, including during the race: « The FIA observed through telemetry during the race, an excessive fuel flow and contacted the team, giving them the opportunity to follow the already given instructions by reducing the flow within the authorized limits measured by the FIA-homologated sensor. ».

The FIA report also indicates that Red Bull did not comply with the regulations by deliberately relying on a measurement other than that indicated by the homologated sensor: « Although the homologated sensor showed a value discrepancy during free practice, it remains the homologated and mandatory sensor on which the team must rely to measure fuel flow, unless permission is given by the FIA to do otherwise. »

Red Bull’s team has appealed this decision, indicating that « the inconsistencies in values with this sensor occurred throughout the weekend for all teams. The Red Bull team and Renault are convinced that the engine’s fuel supply is in full compliance with the regulations. »

Here is a series that is just beginning.