Verstappen stirs up Ferrari over
engine comments
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[November 04, 2019]
(Reuters) - Ferrari have
responded angrily after Red Bull driver Max Verstappen suggested the
Italian team's poor performance at the U.S. Grand Prix was linked to
Formula One's governing body closing a potential engine loophole.
Ferrari had racked up six straight pole positions, and shown
impressive straight line speed, before Mercedes were back on top in
the race in Austin with Valtteri Bottas winning from the front of
the grid.
Ferrari were off the pace on Sunday while Bottas led team mate Lewis
Hamilton, who clinched his sixth world title, in a one-two with
Verstappen third.
Formula One's governing body issued a technical directive before the
race in response to a Red Bull query, ruling out a sophisticated way
of increasing the fuel flow to boost performance.
Asked afterwards in a news conference whether he was surprised by
Ferrari's lack of performance and could offer an explanation,
third-placed Verstappen suggested they had been bending the rules.
"Not surprised, at all, about it. After what came out. So that
explains everything," replied the Dutch 22-year-old. In a separate
interview with Dutch television, he used the word 'cheating'.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said he was disappointed by
the comments.
He pointed out that Sebastian Vettel had missed pole by a mere 0.012
seconds and that Charles Leclerc raced with an old engine after
problems in final practice.
"If we look at the race, certainly the speed on the straight was not
our issue and we had clear problems with grip on the car on the
first stint on both drivers," Binotto told reporters.
"I feel the comments are completely wrong and it is not good for the
sport and everybody should be a bit more cautious," added the
Italian.
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![](../images/110419pics/sports35.jpg)
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red
Bull Racing RB15 leaves the pits before finishing third during the
F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on
November 3, 2019. Mark Ralston/Pool via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
He had said earlier in the week that Ferrari's engine was completely
legal and the team were annoyed by continuing paddock rumours.
Leclerc, who finished fourth and 52 seconds behind Bottas, said
Verstappen's comments were 'a joke'.
"He has no clue. He is not in the team. I don't know why he is
speaking, he doesn't know anything about us," said the Monegasque.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Nov/04/images/ads/current/chicagost_sda_FFARM_2018.png)
Vettel retired after eight laps of the race with rear suspension
failure.
"I just had really, really poor grip and struggled to get the tyres
to work and had a poor feeling with the car straight away," said the
German.
Leclerc said the front left tyre of his car felt 'very, very weird'
in the first stint.
(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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