some interesting stuff in this blog post about left and right-sided tyres

Analysis: How Pirelli Montreal change will handicap ‘tyre-swapping’ teams

Very interesting. That whole thousand miles of extra testing is all very fishy if you ask me…

Seems that Merc have been tyre swapping since Melbourne anyway, so nothing to do with the test. Also Joe Saward has some interesting views on the background to the whole issue – worth a read.

So they’re in court today (updates here). Any predictions for the outcome? I’m torn between a total case dismissal and a suspended ban for Merc.

I’m a Lewis fan and I’m concerned as this test is bad PR for Merc either way. I hope its not a ban etc and Christian Horner made it clear that he was approached to do a test but turned it down as not right ….but then what about the engine mapping and other Redbull ‘innovations’?

Still, I can’t see it going well for Mercedes.

I’m still amazed that they were allowed to do the testing in the first place. Common sense failure!!

Toyota were banned from rallying for a year for a rules violation (well, intentional cheating) so there is a precedent for that sort of thing

Looks like CH made the right decision turning it down. But hasn’t Ross Brawn said he did the testing with FIA blessing?

Just found this on the Formula 1 website:

The FIA has stated that following initial enquiries from Pirelli and Mercedes, it advised that a test with a current car could be possible if all teams were offered the same opportunity. However, it received no subsequent confirmation that such an offer had been made or that the Mercedes test was going ahead.

I think it depends on what comes out in the evidence.

if it is clear that Pirelli approached Merc about doing a test and Merc went to the FIA (albeit possibly just a quick chat about it and didn’t get all the boxes ticked) and its clear they didn’t run any new parts or gather any car data other than was required for the testing then Merc will be OK and Pirelli will face whatever sanction you can give to the sole tyre supplier.

If however it transpires that Merc went to Pirelli and said along the lines of ‘if you invite us for a test nudge nudge, me and you can do 1000km of testing nudge nudge’ and then run a whole load of prototype parts and have all the airflow measuring kit on etc then it could get quite nasty for Merc.

That said, credit to Brawn – he said at Canada that the decision to run the test was his and if there are any repercussions then on his head be it but he genuinely doesn’t seem to think Merc have done anything wrong.

Cheers

Danny B

OTOH the FIA are fairly painted into a corner over this. AFAIK Pirelli are the only real contenders for the 2014 tyre contract (even though it’s not signed yet) and Merc are supplying 3 teams with engines for 2014 – other manufacturers would be unwilling/unable to fill the gap if they walked away.

But that’s never stopped them from doing something stupid in the past…

Yes, it’s going to be an interesting day. It will also be nice to put the whole matter to rest! It’s been one if those events where no one has looked particularly good or smart.

shermer +1.

Massive fine for Merc is what I think will happen. But as has already been said they can’t afford to annoy either party – unless they want to do simulator F1 racing next season!

…there’s also speculation on technical F1 forums that Red Bull may be running some sort of traction control.

atlaz – Member
Toyota were banned from rallying for a year for a rules violation (well, intentional cheating) so there is a precedent for that sort of thing

An ingenious air restrictor that opened itself up on stage then closed again for scrutineering is a tad more serious than this. The ban was originally forever iirc, then they pussied out and chopped it to a year

…there’s also speculation on technical F1 forums that Red Bull may be running some sort of traction control.

I’m no RB fan but then they are only running it on one car then? 😉

Looking at the stories surrounding RB’s traction control it would seem most experts don’t think its true. Some report of a dodgy skid mark(!) from Webber’s car which is more likely tyre oscillation and some other technical terms.

Cheers

Danny B

Duplicate

—
Paul Harris QC, representing Mercedes, tells the FIA disciplinary hearing in Paris: “This test was undertaken by Pirelli. They directed, controlled, stopped the car – call it what you like. They did it all.

“Mercedes was the equivalent to a sub-contractor of Pirelli for the test; they were akin to a temporary employee of Pirelli, as were the marshals and the catering staff.”

Today’s tribunal comes after Mercedes were accused of illegal testing in Barcelona.
—

They had better hope and prey that Pirelli’s evidence matches up!!

Cheers

Danny B

Interesting point re the Ferrari case dismissal. That would suggest that a team is free set up a separate division to run a 2 year old car with current tyres (and v similar engine) at the track where the next race is to be held. Clearly no advantage to be gained there eh?

Merc will get some kind of suspended sentence, there is no way the FIA will ban such a big player/money maker.

Brawn though could be on his way out (pushed out!). although with everything going on at Merc and the Management, i think he was going end of this season anyway.

Well there’s a school of thought that says that he’d only be there this season anyway now Wolff has arrived so they’d be happy to offer him up as a sacrificial lamb.

Personally I think Mercedes definitely knew what they were doing and need punishing. Perhaps a big fine and loss of constructors points for a few races from Monaco onwards.

Paul Harris QC, representing Mercedes, tells the FIA disciplinary hearing in Paris: “This test was undertaken by Pirelli. They directed, controlled, stopped the car – call it what you like. They did it all.

Who was the driver?

If a Merc employee = Bad. If one of the two race drivers = Terrible.

The rules state the car has to be operated by Pirelli.

Seems that Merc have presented emails from the FIA’s legal dept which confirm that this could be classified as a pirelli test and therefore outside the team testing ban.

Pirelli’s evidence this afternoon will be interesting. If they have anything extra to support Merc’s case then I reckon the whole thing will be dismissed.

Merc will claim that they were only “sub-contractors” to Pireli.

Desperate stuff from Merc. It was a 2013 car, driven by Lewis/Nico. all this dancing on a pinhead stuff about who was “undertaking” the test is legal BS.

Loss of constructor points is my best bet and a slap on the wrist for Pirelli

driven by Lewis/Nico

If thats true then they should have race bans for the drivers unless the FIA is complicit.

Why hora? Drivers are employees of teams, testing regs apply to teams not drivers. It might even be a clue that the drivers themselves aren’t present today, so they have no case to answer (to the FIA).

hora – Member

If thats true then they should have race bans for the drivers.

Why? They’re just doing what the team has told them. Punishing the constructors makes far more sense.

I also think the ban on in-season testing should be revoked. All it has meant is that the teams spend loads of cash on CFD and wind tunnels with dubious results instead of on-track testing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22672228

“Mercedes ran for three days using race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.”

Lewis/Nico would have to be a bit thick (or disinterested in data/development- even their managers should have a grasp shirley?).

Mind you if the boss says ‘FIA have said ok’- I’ll do abit of backpedalling..

Look the the McLaren spygate finding – no impact (directly at least) to the drivers despite Alonso and De La Rosa being directly involved (emails showed that FA was asking specific questions about Ferrari setup).

As such, I’d be very surprised if there were any sanctions for the drivers in the Merc case.

all this dancing on a pinhead stuff about who was “undertaking” the test is legal BS.

That’s what F1 is be it legal or rulebook/technical regs pinhead dancing!

emails showed that FA was asking specific questions about Ferrari setup

didn’t Alonso turn snitch though due to feeling disgruntled by Hamo/team favouritism thus escaping punishment!

Yes, he did and clearly that helped but DLR didn’t and still didn’t get any censure. Interestingly (considering Hamilton was supposedly getting preferential treatment by the team), LH wasn’t privvy to the discussion.

Anyway, that’s off topic…

I was watching the Sky interview of Max Mosley by Steve Ryder yesterday, he said that McLaren wouldn’t have been fined $100m for spying if they had confessed in the first place. That’s why Renault got away with doing something similar. I hope Ross and Toto have seen it.

It won’t surprise me if Ross is made the scapegoat and gets the boot – as others have said its a matter of when, not if he goes anyway.

It won’t surprise me if Ross is made the scapegoat and gets the boot

Agreed. I think it suits both sides. Merc have too many chiefs and can offload the blame while the FIA need to show that someone’s paid the price.

Or as has been the case at other times, it’ll be shown that the rules aren’t sufficiently explicit (or conflict) and no punishment will be handed down but the rules will change.

I imagine Pirelli will get fined and Mercedes will lose constructors points which will also mean they will get less money from Bernie at the end of the year.

Fighting talk from Pirelli!

—
Pirelli begins its evidence by saying it does not come under the jurisdiction or authority of the FIA. Pirelli is citing the case against former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, whose FIA ban from motorsport was overturned by the French courts, as evidence that as a supplier/third party they cannot be subject to the regulations.
—

Cheers

Danny B

Just about to post that danny. Looking like the main result of this is going to be a lot of work for the FIA legal bods to tighten up their rules – if I were RedBull or McLaren I’d immediately start dusting off the 2011 car and booking circuits for “Pirelli tyre tests” a few days before each GP for the rest of the year.