Binotto confirms Horner talks regarding Mercedes engine

Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has held talks with Red Bull boss Christian Horner regarding the Mercedes power unit, though he hasn't approached the FIA about the matter.

A recent report stated both Red Bull and Ferrari believe the Silver Arrows have found a trick with their intercooler through a loophole for cooling compressed air to 10 degrees below air temperature in order to generate more horsepower.

While speaking with the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, Binotto confirmed he's talked with Horner about the matter, but stated Ferrari have yet to write to the the FIA over the issue.

"No, we haven't," Binotto stated. "Even though, like all teams and all constructors, we always try to understand what our opponents are doing – we analyse the images and look at the GPS data.

"We had some doubts and discussed it with Red Bull. I personally talked to Horner about it, but we didn't submit any questions for clarification to the FIA."

Ferrari reached a confidential settlement with the FIA after a technical investigation into their engine back in 2019, but Binotto feels the potential protest against Mercedes isn't getting the same media attention.

"Without getting to the subject of the Mercedes engine, I would prefer to touch on other topics that are well known – the flexible wings, rather than the management of tyre pressures, which required technical directives," Binotto added.

"The FIA measures came about because there were those who misinterpreted the principles of the regulations. And this is no different to what had happened in 2019.

"Why are there differences in attitude? Maybe then we were exposed in the media and we suffered an attack from our competitors, but that is now water under the bridge.

"I think to get to the tones used in 2019 is still wrong. However, I think it is important to stress that what happened then is nothing different from what is happening now and has always happened in Formula 1."

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff recently stated there was nothing abnormal about rivals questioning the W12's performance.