FIA backs Parr’s ‘illegal Ferrari’ claims
A spat broke out in Shanghai between the Italian team and Parr, who is Williams chief executive.
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, backed by Renault's Flavio Briatore, hit out at Parr, after comments attributed to him suggested Ferrari had used illegal cars in the past.
But on Monday, the FIA said Ferrari did indeed admit to committing "a technical violation" of the technical regulations in the past during the Court of Appeal hearing last Tuesday.
"Ferrari acknowledged that multiple vertical transitions had been used by many teams in the past, including Ferrari itself, and argued that all such prior uses (including its own) had constituted a technical violation of the (technical regulations) which had been tolerated," the Court of Appeal finding said.
The FIA published the court's 20-page findings in full on Monday.
In the document, the court – which found in favor of the diffuser teams Brawn, Toyota and Williams – acknowledged the loophole that led to the saga.
Amazingly, the diffuser teams and their rivals had argued at length about whether holes in the controversial designs were actually holes.
"The (diffuser teams) and the FIA submit that, while there may be spaces between different surfaces, the surfaces themselves do not have holes in them. They contend that the spaces between different surfaces are not holes within the very specific meaning of" article 3.12.5.
The FIA also denied Red Bull's claim that the governing body turned down its clarification in January 2007 about designing a similar concept.
Monday's document reads: "The questions put to (the FIA) in previous cases were different and answered correctly and in a manner consistent with its present position."