Todt barred by Ferrari from revealing details of engine deal!

FIA president Jean Todt says that he would "love" to divulge the details of the settlement reached with Ferrari over its controversial 2019 engine, but the Scuderia has opposed the disclosure.

The FIA's stance has infuriated non-Ferrari teams who have threatened legal action against the governing body to force it to disclose the details of the confidential agreement.

Todt insists the FIA was right to publicly reveal that a deal sanctioning the House of Maranello was sealed, but confirms that no details will be forthcoming, because Ferrari has opposed any disclosures.

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"If you ask me, I would love to be able to give all the details of the situation, but they [Ferrari] were opposed," Todt told Motorsport.com.

"So, I mean, they have been sanctioned but we cannot give the detail of the sanction.

"And clearly we could have said nothing. But we felt that it would have been wrong not to say that the Ferrari case had been discussed and that there had been sanction.

"Honestly, it’s very simple. Very simple. We have put so much effort to come to our conclusions, which they [the teams] do not agree.

"Unfortunately, it is very much a fait accompli of technical matters, because our technicians say ‘we cannot for sure demonstrate as much as we should that they [Ferrari] were not legal’."

Whether Ferrari's fuel flow system on its 2019 engine breached the technical rules or not is precisely the crux of the matter as far as the opposing teams are concerned.

They rightly argue that if the FIA could not prove the system's legality, it could imply that Ferrari is still exploiting its clever fuel flow ploy.

Communication has been ongoing between the FIA and the teams although the issue has likely been put on the backburner in the face of the current coronavirus crisis and its impact on F1.

Todt, who sent a letter to the teams rebuking their legal threats, says he has spoken to some of the seven teams. Mercedes, who had taken the lead early on in confronting the FIA, has since quietly backed down from its complaints, while the six remaining teams have collectively responded to Todt's rebuke.

"I received a letter in answer to my letter, where they confirmed they understand the position of the FIA," he said.

"But it didn’t mean they were happy of the position of the FIA, and they would love Ferrari to allow the visibility of the case, which I would love too. But we can’t."

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