The Italian team tested its new Red Bull-like low exhaust layout at its own Fiorano test circuit last week, under the guise of a “filming and promotional” day.

Indeed, Ferrari did distribute media photos of the event and even a video of Fernando Alonso driving the car with a camera mounted on his helmet.

“It was arguably within the letter of the laws but not within the spirit,” Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, told the Telegraph.

“You don’t just run these cars – there has to be a lot of planning – and it wasn’t by mistake that they happened to run on that day with the new exhaust system,” he added.

Horner suggested that if Ferrari was really just running the F10 for filming purposes, the car did not need to be fitted with its important Valencia update.

“They managed to have a look at it, and they’ve probably learned a bit.  I’m sure there will be a lively debate at the next team principals’ meeting,” he predicted.

“I think it’s something that needs to be tidied up, because it’s effectively a gentlemen’s agreement, and it’s important that that should be respected.”

But it is true that the Ferrari was running with Bridgestone’s ultra-hard promotional tyres, and Alonso said the runs had been of little competitive value.

“I was running behind a car with cameras at 60kph so it was very stable,” the Spaniard joked.

“We did some laps also with no car in front, and ten cameras on the car and on the helmet, so it was not very comfortable to drive, and it was also the first time driving a Ferrari F1 car at Fiorano,” insisted Alonso.

(GMM)