With continued debate and rumour regarding the legality of the Ferrari car, all drivers have been grilled by the press regarding the matter including Sebastian Vettel.

Paddock arrive in Monaco this weekend still speculating on the team from Maranello, with Mercedes Benz writing an open letter to Charlie Whiting requesting clarification on matters of oil. All teams know that there is likely to be excessive oil burning by Ferrari, but also suspect illegal amounts of battery deployment, particularly during qualifying. Questions over engine mapping has also been added into the mix, and no doubt suspicions will continue to rumble on so long as Mercedes continue to fuel speculation and the English speaking media. That said, there’s an awful lot of smoke, literally.

Right now, the stance of the FIA is that “The Ferrari is legal and the matter finished.” according to Jo Bauer, the chief technical officer of the FIA and that appears good enough for Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari’s likeliest Championship contender to Mercedes Hamilton.

“Rumours always exist. I trust Ferrari. I trust that we are doing the right thing.” declares the German today whilst speaking to the press.

“I also trust the FIA ​​that they would intervene if they saw something they did not like. It used to be like that in the old days. I do not give up rumours. Four weeks ago other conjectures were passed around and in four weeks it will be others again.”

“The mood in our team is good. Things did not go so well in Spain, but it’s normal in one season. Monaco is again very different, and problems we had in Spain will not show up here. At Ferrari, a lot of work is going on to draw the right conclusions from the Barcelona defeat. ”

Technical analysis appears to reveal that one possible cause of the surprise lack of tyre preservation in Spain, with the Ferrari SF71H 2018 car, could well be down to a rear suspension aero upgrade. The upper wishbone on the rear suspension had been changed for improved aerodynamic reasons, but is believed to be the culprit for the overheating tyres. It is said that Vettel has requested the team revert to the previous spec suspension for Monaco.

“Monaco is a very different track than Spain.” says Vettel “Whether we are on the right track when it comes to problem-solving will only reveal itself beyond Monte Carlo.”

“We know that we have a good car. If we do our homework properly, we can win. ”

UPDATE 09:00 – Mark Hughes from Motorsport Magazine has commented that at the insistence by the FIA, Ferrari Power Unit must be fitted with hardware that would make it impossible to use the ERS in the way some rivals are concerned might have been possible.