Cadillac boss, Graeme Lowdon insists that he has every confidence that the Ferrari engine powering his team this season is legal.

His claim comes ahead of a meeting on Thursday (22 January) between the FIA and manufacturers, and at a time Audi is still voicing concerns over the legality of the Mercedes and Red Bull power units.

"What I'm very confident and happy about is we have a fully legal engine," Lowdon told Sky Sports. "With these engines, the combustion is not allowed to take place at a compression ratio above 16:1," he continued.

"Without going into too many details, we know that Ferrari have completely followed the rules where that stands. That gives us a lot of confidence."

Of course, the fear for Cadillac, and all the teams running engines other than the Mercedes and Red Bull units, is that if a loophole has been discovered they could start the season on the back foot.

"In terms of performance, we work and support our power unit partner to the absolute maximum," said Lowdon. "We're very happy with the relationship. I can't really talk for other people's power units or how they've interpreted the regulation. But to me, it's extremely clear it's there in black and white.

"I've worked with Ferrari a number of times before," he continued. "They're great partners. It's an iconic name in Formula 1 as well. All of the people in that team are real racers as well, and we welcome them into the Cadillac Formula 1 team as well.

"They don't just provide us with a power unit, they provide us with some technical support in terms of people who join the team. It's great to have them on board."

However, at Audi, technical director James Key is adamant that the issue must be investigated.

"We have to, as we do, trust the FIA with making the right decisions here," he said. "It's new regs, you've got to have a level playing field. If someone came up with a clever diffuser and you said it's not the right thing to do, no one else can have it, but you can have it for the rest of the year. It doesn't make sense. We'd never accept that.

"I think if it's sort of bypassing the intent of the regulations, then it has to be in some way controlled," he added. "So we trust the FIA to do that, because no one wants to sit a season out if you've got a blatant advantage that you can do nothing with in a homologated power unit. So I think for us, hopefully, the FIA will make the right decisions."

"Regulations do not have everything listed very clearly, bit by bit," said Honda Racing's CEO, Toshihiro Mibe. "So in the new regulation, we look into the possibility of the new technology for each of the different power units.

"There is a lot of room for interpretation as well, and this is a part of the race. So for the FIA, it's up to them to decide on whether it's good or bad."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Tyrbiter, 3 hours ago

"I expect that soon they will legislate Adrian Newey out of F1.

Now wouldn't that look incredibly stupid."

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2. Posted by Superbird70, 3 hours ago

"Sometimes it is in the rule book and then gets banned when someone actually reads the rules.

See Roger Penske, Ilmor-built Mercedes-Benz 500I V8 developed by Team Penske for the 1994 Indianapolis 500.

Very crafty."

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3. Posted by Redphyve, 4 hours ago

"
Here's my 2c:

The FIA are killing innovation in F1. This whole "level playing field" idea has been so debased it's ridiculous. I think that today a Colin Chapman or a Gordon Murray would be legislated out of the sport. As Smoky Yunick once said, if its not in the book it's legal.

Mclaren's F-duct - nothing wrong with that. Banned. Push-pull steering. Banned. The moment other team sniff out that the someone's car is different thety cry "Foul" becasue they don't have one.

Innovation is being stifled, we have cookie-cutter cars that llook the same because of incredibly restrictive rules make them all end up looking the same.

What's the solution? i genuinely have no idea because there are so many factors to take into account. In the old days we went ahead and did what we have to do. But we now have rt be fiscally, morally, environmentally and socially responsible, worthy aims and goal to be sure.

I think that days of the Gordon Murrays etc are gone. It's now just incremental improvements and the Next Big Thing will just be...gone.
"

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Ferrari engine is "fully legal", says Lowdon

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