Ex-Formula 1 driver turned FIA steward, Mika Salo, has taken back the comments he made with regards to Ferrari’s 2019 power unit.
Ferrari was the subject of a post-season investigation from the FIA after suspicions were raised over the legality of their engine.
However, the governing body and the Scuderia came to a ‘private agreement’ on the best course of action moving forward, so the details of the FIA’s examination have never been made public. A decision which was met with widespread derision from rival teams.
The continued secrecy surrounding the investigation means there still remains an opportunity for speculation to spread and Salo played his part in that during a recent discussion with fellow Finn Kristian Sohlberg via Twitch.
Salo, who has previously been forced to deny allegations of leaking details of race penalties to the Finnish media, claimed that Ferrari’s punishment for using an engine that was not fully compliant with the regulations was to use less fuel flow during the 2020 campaign.
That, according to him, was why the Scuderia and its customer teams, Alfa Romeo and Haas, struggled for pace last season.
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But, after his comments spread across the Formula 1 community, he has now dismissed them as “a stupid joke”.
“What I said in an interview a couple of days ago has been misunderstood,” Salo is now quoted as having told the Finnish broadcaster MTV, as per Grandpx.news.
“I would like to clarify that I am not aware of the [details of the] agreement between the FIA and Ferrari. We only talked about what has already been in the media.
“It was a stupid joke and just a conversation between two guys.
“All I can say is that I have no idea what any of the agreements are. And even if I did know something, I wouldn’t talk about it out like that.”
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