Rumors

Mercedes suspects Ferrari of using illegal accelerator"

1 August 2022 at 07:13
  • GPblog.com

Mercedes suspects that Ferrari will drive with an illegal accelerator in 2022. This could also have been the reason for Charles Leclerc's crash in France. The German team suspects Ferrari of the illegal pedal after Mercedes' own software indicated it.

In Austria, earlier in July, Leclerc spoke over the radio about a problem with his accelerator. It would have stuck. The Monegasque still had his Ferrari under control and eventually won the race. When Leclerc parked his Ferrari in the wall two weeks later in France, many people immediately wondered if it was again to do with the accelerator. Leclerc waved this away and said that it was his own fault, but Mercedes seems to think differently about this. Motor.es report.

Mercedes does not trust Ferrari

Mercedes would consider going to the FIA because the team thinks Ferrari is driving with an illegal accelerator. Mercedes have software they can apply to the open data supplied to the teams, with which they can mimic telemetry from rival teams.

The software would have indicated that Leclerc stopped driving in the laps before the crash in France. Yet he continued to accelerate, without having his foot on the accelerator. Mercedes itself expects that the complaint is probably too vague, but the team hopes that they can convince the FIA to investigate anyway.