And the white powder is...

...acid fertilizer. Stepney is looking at a maximum of 4 years in prison.

 

ssniff snniff, aaaaaahhhhh, don't know yet, have to try again later........

 

Any word on the purported effect this had on the cars reliability or performance?

 

WOW !

 

What was his motivation for doing this?

 

Didn't get promoted to technical director.

 

That is a fair question. Imagine what would happen if Stepney claims his research shows that it added horsepower so he was cheating FOR Ferrari!
He could sabatoge Ferrari while claiming he thought it helped. The FIA would have to punish Ferrari! ... As the wise Homer would say "Doh!"

 

Ummm, sure.........

 

IIRC, certain forms of fertilizer have a second purpose as explosives. Just wild speculation: Maybe he wanted to damage the engines with combustions being a tad stronger than with normal gas? Would that work, could the normal explosion in the combustion chamber ignite the fertilizer-gasoline-mixture? Maybe we have some chemists here who are able to elaborate on the subject

 

Those engines already don't like heat. If the fuel id burning hotter, it would cook it from the inside out.

 

It would then look as if the engines just blew up, this seems so amateur and could surely be found in the inspections .but maybe like you say a tad might go unoticed.. total bloody idiot wrecking the GP grim news .

 

Yes, simply blowing them (and maybe the whole car including the driver) up would be pretty senseless. I know absolutely nothing about the usage of fertilizers as explosives beside the fact that they can be used in such a way, and I'm sure that after a major engine failure caused by too strong combustions Ferrari would of course examine the fuel and find the fertilizer in it, but it's the only explanation that makes sense to me. Beside that Stepney just wanted to fill any substance into the tanks in order to damage the car and just had fertilizer at hand, but how probable is that?

 

Florian we are just stabbing in the dark in theory this could probably be the case but having some fertilizer at hand!! He must have planned it and as well as the documents being found a totally and utter blundering cock up dont know how he had kept his job in the first place..

 

Yeah, as I said - wild speculation based upon one single fact. I don't know how many racing engineers have fertilizer with them, I guess we won't find many

 

I posted a thread on this subject with info from Autosport on Friday, 13 July.

Carol

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158588

 

Just a guess? according the the reports, the id of the white substance will be disclosed on 3 or 4 August and it's believed not to be Ca3(P04)2.

How about something as basic as SUGAR - powdered since it will leave a footprint vs granulated - would clog the fuel filter, clog the fuel pump, screw up injectors - engine failure - no big fires - could appear plain and simple as an engine failure during the race.

Carol


"As far as I know it's not calcium phosphate, not at all," Tibis was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "On August 3 or 4 everything will be revealed: the substance, its concentration and its effects."

calcium phosphate
n.
A colorless deliquescent powder, Ca(H2PO4)2, used in baking powders, as a plant food, as a plastic stabilizer, and in glass.
A white crystalline powder, CaHPO4, used as an animal food, as a plastic stabilizer, and in glass and toothpaste.
A white amorphous powder, Ca3(PO4)2, used in ceramics, rubber, fertilizers, and plastic stabilizers and as a food supplement.

Calcium phosphate is the name given to a family of minerals containing calcium ions (Ca2+) together with orthophosphates (PO43-), metaphosphates or pyrophosphates (P2O74-) and occasionally hydrogen or hydroxide ions.

Uses
For the production of phosphoric acid and fertilizers, for example in the Odda process. Overuse of certain forms of calcium phosphate can lead to nutrient-containing surface runoff and subsequent adverse effects upon receiving waters such as algal blooms and eutrophication.

Calcium phosphate is also a raising agent, with E number E341. It is also used in cheese products.

It is also used as a nutritional supplement. There is some debate about the different bioavailabilities of the different calcium salts.

Another practical application of the compound is its use in gene transfection. The calcium ions can make a cell competent to allow exogenous genes to enter the cell by diffusion. A heat shock afterwards then induces the cell to repair itself. This is a quick and easy method for transfection, albeit a rather inefficient one. Calcium chloride is also used for this purpose.

Molecular formulas:

Calcium dihydrogen phosphate, E341(i): Ca(H2PO4)2

Calcium hydrogen phosphate, E341(ii): CaHPO4

Tricalcium phosphate (or tricalcic phosphate), E341(iii): Ca3(PO4)2

 

A guess by the press.

 

Which engines were in the cars ? Race or Practice ?

 

The fertilizers used for explosives generally are Nitrogen based.
Other nitrogen based explosives; Nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose ( Dynamite ).

 

Wonder if we're putting up any red flags for homeland security

 

Regardless if it was sugar or acid fertilizer, as long as the engine blows or malfunctions, it will served its purpose of forcing an engine change, which carrys with it a 10 spaces penality.

 

is there proof that stepney put it there ?

 

Exactly I could see nitrogen based fertilizer causing a engine to blow. Ammonium nitrate NH4NO3 a common fertilizer mixed with diesel fuel can make a huge bomb. It is what Tim McVeigh used to blow up the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995. So I could see if that was added to the gas it would blow an engine pretty quick I would be afraid of causing to large of an explosion and possibly hurting the driver as well.

 

Did the manager of the Monaco "Dunkin Donuts" have a pit pass?

Oh, wait: there were cops about, weren't there?