Formula One’s conspiracy theorists (yes, we apparently have some of those) had a field day after last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. These people believe that Ferrari may have something to hide. But what?
First, I’d like to say that while I find this conspiracy theory a little hard to believe, I find myself unable to dispute some of the strange events that went on during that race.
People have pointed out that Ferrari may have been hiding something against the regulations in their car. While some say that it’s something as basic as running the car under the required weight to make it faster, others believe that it’s something as elaborate as power unit modifications that are against the regulations. Why would someone think this?
Ferrari had a lot of ground to make up in the championship and having engine issues during qualifying really put a bigger hurdle for the team to climb on their quest of the championship title. The team needed some luck to get good points in Malaysia.
Some people believe that the bizarre identical engine problem that both Ferrari cars suffered during the weekend is a sign that the team made some changes to their power unit.
There’s also a large amount of mystery surrounding the post-race crash. Firstly, some believe that the team purposely arranged for the car to be crashed to get it past the post-race inspection. Secondly, some people find it strange that Sebastian Vettel took his steering wheel with him after the crash. To the best of my knowledge, that’s not supposed to be done because it’s supposed to make its way through the post-race inspection too. Not to mention, there’s no valid reason to want to take the steering wheel with you after a crash. It’s not like someone is going to steal it.
And then there’s the theories over the race results themselves. After challenging Daniel Ricciardo for a podium position, Vettel dropped back. To be honest though, there wasn’t really any overtaking attempt from Vettel. Some believe that Ferrari wanted the car to finish no higher than fourth position because any higher would mean a podium finish and that the car would receive a lot more post-race scrutineering by the FIA.
Not sure I believe it, but an interesting theory.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
