Did Ferrari gain competitive advantage on a media track-day?

The grainy footage posted on YouTube of a Ferrari F10 flying around Fiorano last Friday has provided a bit of a talking point going into this weekend’s European Grand Prix in Valencia.. I have heard some grumbling about ‘loopholes’ being exploited, although no team I have spoken to would say as much on the record, either because they don’t want to stick their heads above the parapet or because they don’t believe it to be an issue.

But what have they got to complain about? The rules, after all, are the same for everyone. In-season testing is banned these days (for cost-saving purposes) with a few notable exceptions, one of which is “…promotional or demonstration events carried out using tyres provided specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier."

Ferrari’s day was a ‘media’ day. Alonso was running the F10 – complete with a new low exhaust configuration – as part of a day of filming at Ferrari’s exclusive test track. Obviously the Italian team are at a slight advantage in having Fiorano in the first place but this was all perfectly legitimate stuff. As they argue, how else are they to get rights-free footage for use on their website (they tell me that there will be footage on the official site tomorrow of Fernando commentating as he drives around the track with a helmet-cam)?

The grumbling becomes more understandable if they are able to derive any competitive advantage from the exercise. And this week, as has been noted elsewhere, happens to be one in which when they are introducing a revamped rear end as part of an “aggressive push" to get back on level terms with Red Bull and McLaren.

Coincidental? Or would Alonso have been able to glean anything from his brief sortie? Watch the video. He is hardly driving at 30mph behind a camera truck. Even with demo tyres he would presumably be able to give some feedback to his engineers as to how the new aero design is working, or even just check its reliability?? As Ferrari themselves said in the last line of their press release about the day: “You have to make the most of any opportunity in this era of the testing ban!"

So was this ’shakedown’ against the spirit of the regulations? Is this a grey area that certain teams are exploiting? Should the regulations be tightened up? Or were the regs never intended to prevent testing so much as to save costs? Is this a fuss over nothing? Any which way, I am informed the issue will “be discussed by engineers in small huddles" in Valencia as they plan how and when to deploy similar ‘media’ days… UK Telegraph