Though vehemently dismissing Max Verstappen's claim that Ferrari had been caught cheating, there is no denying that the Italian was unusually off-form in Austin.

While Sebastian Vettel was sidelined by an early suspension failure, Charles Leclerc finished a distant fourth, almost a minute behind race-winner Valtteri Bottas, just a day after the Italian missed out on pole.

Like Verstappen, many put Ferrari's weak performance down to a technical directive that had been sent out by the FIA in response to a query from Red Bull over fuel flow rate measurement.

Ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the season, the FIA has sent out another directive, this time warning teams that it is forbidden to direct flammable liquids from the intercooler, air inlet or ERS system to the combustion chambers of the engine.

Whether this will further impact Ferrari remains to be seen, but the move comes at a time rivals had been querying the Italian outfit's dramatic improvement in pace since the summer break.

The move comes at a time Leclerc is due to take a 10-place grid penalty following the damage incurred in Austin in FP3. Though he still had an engine in his pool, it was the "less powerful version", according to team boss, Mattia Binotto.

Check out our Thursday gallery from Interlagos, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by DRAGON F1, 15/11/2019 4:57

"Imo Putting out these Directives now are really for next year so that teams are fully aware and will comply!"

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2. Posted by Lakota, 14/11/2019 19:52

"Another reason to give the teams as much fuel as they want. Use fuel lines the size of fire hoses, fuel stops . Let's not forget it's racing "

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3. Posted by kdxrider, 14/11/2019 17:42

"So, why now --- two directives --- at the end of the year ? When it doesn't mean anything, now that the championships are out of reach.
Has it taken the other teams that long to figure out what other teams are doing so want to do it themselves?"

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More technical directive problems for Ferrari?

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