Ferrari has admitted that its step backwards in engine performance this season is linked to a number of rule clarifications made over the winter.
After several seasons of making considerable steps forward with its power unit performance, the early indications from this year is that Ferrari's engine power is down compared to last year. The loss in performance follows an FIA investigation into Ferrari's power unit over the winter and a series of rule clarifications, known as technical directives, issued by the governing body.
"The regulations are very difficult and complex," Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said. "I think there are areas of the regulations of the power unit where maybe clarifications are still required. It's an ongoing process which has always existed in the past and will exist in the future.
"Since last year a lot of TDs [technical directives] have been released eventually clarifying some areas of the regulations. I think that through these TDs we had to adapt ourselves. I don't think it's only the case of Ferrari, because looking at the power outputs this season I think most of the manufacturers somehow had to adapt themselves, but certainly as Ferrari we had to adapt and as a simple output of that we lost some of the performance we had.
"Now we've got a clearer situation in some areas of the regulations and hopefully that will continue in some areas if required for the future."
Ferrari's power deficit is likely to remain in place until the end of the year due to a cost saving measure that outlaws performance-orientated updates to the engine, turbocharger and MGU-H until 2021. Ferrari had planned a second and third specification of this year's power unit with performance updates, but with the coronavirus pandemic closing its factory, it was unable to get them ready ahead of this season's homologation deadline.
As a result, Ferrari is unlikely to make a major step forward in engine performance until next year.
"Engine or power unit development is an ongoing process that we never stopped, probably since 2012 when we started developing those engines," Binotto added. "It has been a long time developing them, we were doing developments also for this season that we will not be able to introduce during the season itself because we had that long shutdown period before the start of the season, which has not been the case for all the power unit manufacturers, by the way.
"But then obviously we will still develop and we somehow try to develop as much as we can by the start of next season. There are still areas of the regulations that need to be clarified and hopefully that may be done so that in the future at least there is sufficient clarity in the regulations to make sure that we've got all the same understanding."