The appointment as steward of an Italian driver with close ties to Ferrari has raised some eyebrows within the F1 paddock in Abu Dhabi.

Emanuele Pirro, who contested grands prix in the early 90s for the Scuderia Italia team, is making his first appearance as an FIA official this weekend for the 2010 world championship showdown.

48-year-old Pirro now races vintage Ferrari cars, and on his website is a picture of a 1971 Ferrari 512M with the caption ‘All Italian boys love Ferraris’.

The news has led to claims he should not be adjudicating at a grand prix where a Ferrari driver – Fernando Alonso – stands to win the title.

An FIA spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: “We selected the stewards some while ago.”

Bild correspondent Tobias Holtkamp wrote: “Imagine it’s the World Cup final, with Italy playing Germany. And the referee is from Rome.

“It’s unthinkable. Only in formula one is it possible.”

Race director Charlie Whiting responded: “I have no problem with it.

“A few years ago Max Mosley as FIA president ordered that only stewards not associated with a team or driver can be appointed.

“In practice, this was unfortunately not sustainable. There simply are not enough to choose from.”

Martin Whitmarsh insists it would be a strange coincidence if Red Bull’s weakened dominance is not connected with the flexible bodywork saga.

Just two months ago in Hungary, the RB6 was utterly dominant, but at the subsequent Belgian, Italian and Singaporean rounds, it was Red Bull’s rivals that took the chequered flag first.

Lewis Hamilton said last week that Adrian Newey’s car was slowed by the FIA’s more stringent front wing and floor flexibility tests — a claim denied by Red Bull.

“It (the end of Red Bull’s dominance) may be a coincidence, but that would be quite strange,” McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport.

He said that while the wings on the Red Bull and also the Ferrari cars were visibly bending, those two teams “had some very strong races while we were at a loss”.

Whitmarsh confirmed he was involved in the push to clamp down on the visible flexibility of Red Bull’s car.

“I asked (the FIA) whether we could design wing endplates that touch the ground, and the clear answer was no.

“So if we can’t do it, then the others can’t as well, because endplates that are 20 to 30 millimetres lower to the track equates to about one second per lap,” insisted the Briton.

He thinks that, without the latest flexible bodywork saga, McLaren’s championship situation might be very different with just four races now to run.

“Maybe we weren’t clever or bold enough,” said Whitmarsh.  “But if a system is not legal, then nobody should be allowed to use it.”

Red Bull and Ferrari hit back at McLaren on Friday as the flexible wing saga continued to run.

It is the British team that has been the most vocal about the wings on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars this year.

But technical bosses Adrian Newey and Aldo Costa told reporters at Monza that they were ready to agree to an even more stringent flexibility test — and it was McLaren that turned it down.

“We are happy to further increase the stiffness if we want a front wing that is double the stiffness,” Ferrari’s Costa said.

Currently, when weights are placed on the front wings during pre-race FIA scrutineering, the permissible deflection is 10mm.

“It was discussed in the technical working group to have a 5mm deflection, but also engineers who are at this table didn’t accept,” said the Italian.

Also with McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe at the table, the discussion was taking place during the FIA press conference.

“I think it was Paddy who suggested (the test stay at) 10mm,” said Red Bull’s Newey.

Costa admitted he has been frustrated by the entire saga.

“I don’t know why this saga has been created,” he said.

Newey agreed: “The test has been as it has been for several years and suddenly there is a load of excitement.”

McLaren has modified the floor of its 2010 car to conform to new floor flexibility tests introduced this weekend at Monza.

Ironically for the British team, the FIA devised the new tests amid shrill complaints about the allegedly flexible Red Bull and Ferrari cars.

“The new offset load test is a little challenging,” admitted Tim Goss, chief engineer for the MP4-25 car, during a team teleconference on Wednesday.

“We’ve had to make some minor modifications just to make sure we’re well inside the deflection limits.

“We’ve taken the opportunity to roll it up into a minor performance upgrade as well,” he revealed.

The first wave of new tests debuted at Spa-Francorchamps two weeks ago, where McLaren figures observed that they thought the Red Bull was not flexing as much as it had previously.

Goss, who said McLaren did not need to modify its front wing at all, thinks the Red Bull will also be affected by the Monza floor tests.

“I think as far as the offset bib test is concerned, I would expect most teams would have had to have made changes to comply with that,” he said.

“As far as articulated planks are concerned, there are a number of teams who run floor skids in multiple pieces and I imagine other teams will have to make modifications for that,” added Goss.

He thinks this weekend’s Italian grand prix will be hotly contested.

“I think most people would say we’re unlikely to see Red Bull Racing with the substantial advantage they had at the Hungarian grand prix,” Goss concluded.  “I bet Monza will be very tight.”

Christian Horner has hit back at claims Red Bull were slowed down at Spa-Francorchamps due to succumbing to the flexible wing saga.

McLaren’s Jenson Button had said before leaving Belgium that the pace of the previously dominant RB6 had been “affected” by the more stringent deflection test, with the new floor tests to possibly have “even more of an effect” at Monza next weekend.

Button’s boss Martin Whitmarsh, and Mercedes’ Ross Brawn, also said they thought the front wings on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars were flexing less visibly than they had in Hungary earlier in August.

“I can categorically tell you that they are the same wings (at Spa) that ran in Hungary a month ago,” Red Bull team boss Horner is quoted on Wednesday by the Telegraph.

“Whether that is the same for our competitors I can’t say,” he added.

Horner suggested it was the McLaren cars that were using different wing designs in Belgium.

“I would be very interested to know — and you might find it was a silver wing that was most flexible (at Spa),” he said.

However, a video doing the rounds on the internet appears to show Sebastian Vettel’s front wing moving visibly in and out of the slipstream in the moments before he crashed into Button.

Team boss Christian Horner confirmed the news to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“The reason is simple,” he said. “The wing without the F-duct is more efficient (in Hungary).”

The report also said Ferrari is not convinced the F-duct is the best solution for the tight and twisty layout, experimenting with one car not running the downforce-stalling device in morning practice.

Williams’ Rubens Barrichello was surprised when he learned that some teams are not convinced about the F-duct at the Hungaroring.

“For sure we are starting with the F-duct. After that, we’ll see,” he said.

Another talking point in Hungary is the flexible front wings photographed on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars last weekend at Hockenheim.

“I am not saying they are doing something illegal,” McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted as saying.

“But the fact is that the endplates are touching the ground,” he said, apparently after seeing the slow-motion video captured by FOM of the Red Bull cars in morning practice.

“On the Red Bull, these end plates are even protected with a shield. We can’t imagine how it’s getting that low,” added Whitmarsh.

According to a media report, Red Bull’s first race with the F-duct concept in Valencia could have contributed to Mark Webber’s huge crash.

In-car footage of the moments before the Australian struck the rear of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus show him activating the downforce-stalling device.

Unlike McLaren’s pioneering system which is triggered by the drivers’ knee, the Red Bull F-duct – debuted in qualifying and the race in Valencia – works by Webber and Sebastian Vettel blocking a hole with the four fingers of their left hand.

The footage showed Webber’s four fingers off the steering wheel on the straight, with his thumb still loosely in the steering wheel hole.

Immediately before he struck the Lotus, Webber put his left fingers back on the wheel in a failed attempt to dodge Kovalainen.

When hand-activated F-ducts appeared on the Sauber and Ferrari cars last month, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said “drivers driving with fingertips and no hands … is a safety issue”.

But Italy’s Autosprint reports that Red Bull’s hand-operated F-duct could have been a factor in Webber’s crash last weekend.

Vettel admitted in Valencia that he was not a fan of the hand-operated system.

“It was a very smart idea, it’s a big benefit if you manage to set it up right but obviously you don’t have your hands on the steering wheel all the time.

“I was managing to drink, I used the right hand side to press a button on the left.  It also depends on how many adjustments you make per lap, brake balance and so on.

“You get used to it but it’s not the most comfortable thing,” said the German.

(GMM)

The long-awaited time of having Fernando Alonso answer questions in a press conference as Ferrari member has arrived today.  The man from Asturias has high hopes of ending his sport career in the Italian team, and did not hesitate to describe the Italian racing team as a “unique” team in Formula One.  “It’s almost impossible to find the motivation to race in another team after racing in Ferrari, because you’ll never find the same atmosphere or the same sensation.  It’s a legendary team.  Now, that I have reached one of my goals I’m happy,” he added.
“I’ve felt comfortable since the very first day.  The team has received me like a family member.  I think that Ferrari is something unique in the Formula One.  You all have dreamt of driving non-racing Ferrari cars and I’m not an exception.  I’m sure this is going to be my last team.  I want to finish this career with good taste in my mouth,” he said during his first press conference as Ferrari pilot.
For Alonso, the team’s atmosphere is “friendly” and in the factory “one breaths passion for races.”  As is well known by those who know Alonso, this things are vital for him, so he has not hesitated to admit that the “way of working” has surprised him.”  ”I was used to working with people who sent emails to someone who was only a few feet away, he declared.
“I work a 110 percent for the team, but if the team does not do the same, things are not well,” he asserted.
Nevertheless, Fernando was cautious and believes that its almost impossible to emulate the seven titles of the ‘Kaiser’.  “There is much equality in Formula 1, and rules are very strict.  Currently, the competition is in two or three tenths.  This is why winning five World Championships in a row or four, as Michael did, is something very difficult to repeat,” he stated.
As has been usual for me during the last year, I avoid talking about his stage in McLaren-Mercedes and his presumed rivalry with Lewis Hamilton. “I lost a lot of time talking about that.  I never asked to be the number one, but I don’t want to be number two, and that’s something that happened a few times in 2007″, he said when asked.
He did want to make clear that his relationship with his new mate, Felipe Massa, is “very good,” despite of the Germany incident.  ”In 2007, we were participating in a race, we’re competitive, but that belongs to the past.”
Getting back to his current status as Ferrari pilot, he’s convinced that he’s “more prepared” than ever to face the challenge of being a Ferrari pilot.  “Now, I’m more prepared for this challenge, that is not easy because Ferrari is known worldwide and a lot is expected of me “, he concluded.