This is interesting... From Ted Kravitz'snotebook:
A very wound-up Williams technical director Sam Michael explained to(Ted Kravitz)at the airport on Sunday night how certain he was that his cars were not illegal.
Firstly, the temperature of the fuel was taken by the FIA when the fuel was "going into the car during the race refuelling".
This is significant.
Article 6.5.5 of the technical regulations says that the fuel in the car cannot be less than 10 degrees cooler than ambient. It makes no mention of the fuel in the refuelling rig.
The readings came from the fuel rig while it was pumping the fuel in, so it was not taking the temperature of the fuel in the car as the rules state.
The fuel would have warmed up as soon as it went into the tank, and BMW and Williams have data that supports this.
Secondly, the ambient temperature was never 37 degrees.
The temperatures were taken from Formula One Management data that is shown on page three of the circuit's timing screens.
But in Brazil, these temperature readings were, to put it mildly, unscientific.
Either the air temperature probe was in the sun (air temp should always be taken from the shade) or it was not calibrated correctly.
This is supported by the readings of the track temperature.
When the race started, the FOM screens showed the track temperature as 62 degrees.
That would've melted even(Ted Kravitz's)trusty Dr Martens boots.
Bridgestone measured the track temp at a more usual 48 degrees.
The weather experts from Meteo France, who sit in a small container within the circuit measuring the weather to internationally accepted standards and accuracy, said the ambient temperature (in the shade) never exceeded 34 degrees.
So in that light, it does seem that BMW and Williams were legal, and McLaren will have a hard time proving otherwise.
SOURCE: ITV-F1
Redders1989
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