F1: Shell: Nothing to hide in Ferrari oil

The company that supplies oil to the Ferrari Formula 1 team says it has "nothing to hide" with regards to the engine lubrication systems recently investigated by the FIA.

F1's governing body analyzed oil samples taken from Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari during June's Canadian Grand Prix, to see whether either team was using auxiliary oil tanks to boost engine performance. After an extensive analysis, officials said it was satisfied neither team was in breach of the regulations.

Guy Lovett, Shell's technology manager for Ferrari, said his organisation is happy to continue working with the FIA to ensure the rules concerning fuel and combustion are policed correctly.

"The FIA conducted the analysis because it's completely illegal to inject fuel downstream of the fuel sensor," he said. "If you put a fuel component within the oil there is a chance it could get to the combustion chamber, [because] there is, in any engine, passage of oil from the sump via the rings to the combustion chamber.

"How big a performance gain you're going to get from that is questionable, quite frankly. Nevertheless, that is a grey area, and quite clearly something the FIA wanted to investigate and close off. We're very happy to continue working with the FIA to make sure that particular aspect of the regulations is policed correctly.

"[We have] nothing to hide there."

Originally on Autosport.com