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[Ferrari man 009]

Well from what the Sky Feed is saying, Merc are just rehashing the same defence since it happened - 'Not our test, so we didnt need to ask permission (but we asked Charlie anyway, and got a green light)' - and there was me hoping they would have some amazing get out of jail free card up there sleeve.

If this is all they've got, they are going down!

Agree, they're desperate, as theyve now started to have a go at Ferrari's test.

2011 car is a lot different to 2013, it had a double (exhaust blown) diffuser on it for a start!

EDIT - Andrew Benson's tweet shows the difference:

"Difference btwn Rosberg and Alonso's fastest laps in Barcelona 2011 and 2013 - more than two seconds. Qual time: Rosberg +1.881, Alo +0.746"

https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1/stat ... 6571035648

Yeah, I can see how miniscule that difference was......

[racechick]

Just found this picture on twitter
http://bit.ly/194rqfe

[racechick]

And Horner getting into the act, surprise, surprise!
http://bit.ly/193Mtyn

[Ferrari man 009]

Here's more from Craig Slater on how Mercedes' legal defence has also shed more light on the communications with the FIA which they believe gave them clearance to test.

"We heard this morning from the FIA about details of exchanges between the Mercedes and the FIA as Mercedes sought to clarify the position about whether a 2013 car could be used. Paul Harris in his submissions this afternoon explained exactly what email traffic had gone on between Mercedes and the FIA, and perhaps while conceding that Charlie Whiting wasn't in a position himself to authorise the test, he does say he was in a position to be led to believe by him there was this potential to run the 2013 car.

"Basically Mercedes made the request to run the 2013 car to the FIA, Charlie Whiting then had an exchange with the in-house legal team at the FIA and it's fascinating to hear the email reponse that came back from Sebastian Barnard, who's the FIA's legal advisor. It goes along the lines of 'in my view any such testing could not actually be undertaken by competitors, it would be argued that this was done by Pirelli. Would we be able to take this position?'

"The response from Sebastian Barnard was 'yes we could take this position, it is not an undertaking from the competitor'. So on the face of it if that's some advice that's been given out there it does seem to suggest that there was this potential loophole that it could be a Pirelli test governed by their commercial contract with F1 and it wouldn't involve the competitor Mercedes and they wouldn't be in breach of the regulations."

This could be the evidence that saves Mercedes and Pirelli!

[Hammer278]

Here's more from Craig Slater on how Mercedes' legal defence has also shed more light on the communications with the FIA which they believe gave them clearance to test.

"We heard this morning from the FIA about details of exchanges between the Mercedes and the FIA as Mercedes sought to clarify the position about whether a 2013 car could be used. Paul Harris in his submissions this afternoon explained exactly what email traffic had gone on between Mercedes and the FIA, and perhaps while conceding that Charlie Whiting wasn't in a position himself to authorise the test, he does say he was in a position to be led to believe by him there was this potential to run the 2013 car.

"Basically Mercedes made the request to run the 2013 car to the FIA, Charlie Whiting then had an exchange with the in-house legal team at the FIA and it's fascinating to hear the email reponse that came back from Sebastian Barnard, who's the FIA's legal advisor. It goes along the lines of 'in my view any such testing could not actually be undertaken by competitors, it would be argued that this was done by Pirelli. Would we be able to take this position?'

"The response from Sebastian Barnard was 'yes we could take this position, it is not an undertaking from the competitor'. So on the face of it if that's some advice that's been given out there it does seem to suggest that there was this potential loophole that it could be a Pirelli test governed by their commercial contract with F1 and it wouldn't involve the competitor Mercedes and they wouldn't be in breach of the regulations."

This could be the evidence that saves Mercedes and Pirelli!

There you go LRW, the ace up their sleeves... looks like it's going to be a long night. I think the most conclusive result of this hearing would be Pirelli and Merc being sworn enemies from here on in. It seems Merc are thrashing Pirelli's incompetent tyres as the basis to which the test was done.

[racechick]

Here's a summing up of things so far
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22984415

[CookinFlat6]

Has anyone got a stream for this

seriously though, they should have televised it - its more entertaining than most races

[What's Burning?]

So the FIA Lawyer says to Charlie, it's okay to tell Mercedes they can use the 2013 car because its really a Pirelli test not the competitor's test.

Let's throw Mercedes and Brawn under the bus quick!

[1Lemon]

So the FIA Lawyer says to Charlie, it's okay to tell Mercedes they can use the 2013 car because its really a Pirelli test not the competitor's test.

Let's throw Mercedes and Brawn under the bus quick!

As far as I can work out Charlie said with no written confirmation that he thinks they wouldn't be breaking any articles of the rules but that they'd look into it, but they never got confirmation.

[darwin dali]

So the FIA Lawyer says to Charlie, it's okay to tell Mercedes they can use the 2013 car because its really a Pirelli test not the competitor's test.

Let's throw Mercedes and Brawn under the bus quick!

[Ferrari man 009]

FIA will not announce any verdict today, we wont know the result until tomorrow!

To me that seems because it isnt clear cut, and they need more time to analyse statements/evidence.

[LRW]

Pirelli lawyer Dominque Dumas also argues that there are no restrictions in Pirelli's agreement with the FIA about what car can be used for its permitted tests.

[What's Burning?]

FIA will not announce any verdict today, we wont know the result until tomorrow!

To me that seems because it isnt clear cut, and they need more time to analyse statements/evidence.

Or because they want to make it seem like they're thinking about what they've already decided in back room deals two weeks ago.

[1Lemon]

Pirelli lawyer Dominque Dumas

What an unfortunate name.

[darwin dali]

FIA will not announce any verdict today, we wont know the result until tomorrow!

To me that seems because it isnt clear cut, and they need more time to analyse statements/evidence.

Or because they want to make it seem like they're thinking about what they've already decided in back room deals two weeks ago.

Or they're weighing the consequences of a harsh verdict (Mercedes and/or Pirelli quitting F1 altogether).