FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[1Lemon]

Hamilton get's blamed and get's a 2 year ban from F1. That'll cheer everyone up






I joke, clearly this was all because of Maldonado, he demanded Merc did new tyres obviously punish him!

[Hammer278]

What about giving them a USD100,000 fine....since Merc chose the wrong chassis by accident, and get it over with.

[1Lemon]

What about giving them a USD100,000 fine....since Merc chose the wrong chassis by accident, and get it over with.

How could you accidentally choose the wrong chassis, then accidentally use your current race drivers? I never had Merc down as hugely incompetent.

[What's Burning?]

Being sent to an international tribunal does not assure any outcome. On the contrary any evidence Mercedes and Pirelli have will also be looked at. Anything the FiA may have done improperly will also be discussed and weighed into a decision.

[racechick]

Rosberg : we learnt nothing from the test. It was a full on Pirelli test, they controlled everything.
http://www.f1reader.com/news/rosberg-we ... hing-75068

[1Lemon]

Rosberg : we learnt nothing from the test. It was a full on Pirelli test, they controlled everything.
http://www.f1reader.com/news/rosberg-we ... hing-75068

[racechick]

What's that little rectangle?

[1Lemon]

What's that little rectangle?

It's a picture..... You on an Ipad again?

[NHcheese]

Give them intermediate tyres to race on every race weekend!

[1Lemon]

Give them intermediate tyres to race on every race weekend!

I think full wets would me more applicable, regardless of weather. Or a new rule they must use both sets of wet tyres (Inters and wets) per race.

[darwin dali]

Or how about no sponsors on their cars for 5 races and their livery has to be pink with dog turd stickers.

[LRW]

Mercedes 'welcome' summons to appear at a FIA hearing into Barcelona tyre test
Brackley team pledge to reveal the "full facts" behind 'secret' event

Mercedes have reacted to their summons for a hearing of the FIA International Tribunal into their three-day tyre test with Pirelli by insisting they "welcome the opportunity" to state their case.

The summons, issued late on Wednesday night, has overshadowed the build-up to this weekend's Canadian GP and continues to cast a cloud over the Mercedes team despite their unexpectedly-competitive start to the 2013 season culminating in Nico Rosberg's faultless victory at last week's Monaco GP.

With the FIA subpoena warning that the 'conditions' of the secret test, staged between May 15 and May 17 at Barcelona in the week after the Spanish GP, 'may constitute a breach of the applicable FIA rules', the threat of a points deduction hangs over the team, but Mercedes remain adamant they haven't committed any wrongdoing.

"Mercedes-Benz acknowledges the decision of the FIA to take the matter of the Pirelli Test before the International Tribunal," the team announced in a statement on Thursday.

"We welcome the opportunity to explain the full facts of the Pirelli test in an open and transparent manner at the International Tribunal.

"Sporting integrity is of primary importance to Mercedes-Benz and we have the utmost confidence in the due process of the FIA."

With an investigation into Ferrari's post-Bahrain test dropped after the Scuderia reassured the FIA they only used their 2011 car with test driver Pedro de la Rosa behind the wheel, the focus of the tribunal is set to be Mercedes' decision to run their 2013 model, the W04, with regular race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg on duty.

While Mercedes have hitherto strenuously insisted that they sought and received permission from the governing body to run the test, the decision of the FIA to summon both the Brackley-based outfit and Pirelli, the sport's sole tyre supplier, would certainly suggest they do not share that outlook.

A date for the hearing has not yet been determined.

Mercedes seem pretty confident.

[Nin-Chin]

BBC


Mercedes say they "welcome" the chance to justify taking part in what rivals say was an illegal Pirelli tyre test.Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has ordered Mercedes to appear before a hearing of its international tribunal.A Mercedes statement said they would "explain the full facts of the test in an open and transparent manner".It added that "sporting integrity is of primary importance to Mercedes" and they had "the utmost confidence in the due process of the FIA".

The FIA said in a statement on Wednesday that it had decided after receiving a report from Mercedes into the test that "the conditions of this testing may constitute a break of the applicable FIA rules".

Mercedes did 1,000km of running over three days at Barcelona's Circuit de Cataluya on 8-10 May, using a 2013 car and race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Article 22 of the F1 sporting regulations explicitly forbids "using cars which conform substantially with the current Formula 1 technical regulations in addition to those from the previous or subsequent year".
Mercedes say they discussed the test with the FIA beforehand and believed they had been given permission to use a current car.
The FIA has decided Ferrari have no case to answer after using a 2011 car in a similar manner at a test the previous month.
This is the first time the international tribunal - an independent panel chaired by a leading lawyer - has been used in this way.

It is part of attempts to increase the transparency of the FIA process by president Jean Todt, who can be present at the hearing only as an observer.

Todt is the former team boss of Ferrari, where he worked closely with Mercedes' current team principal Ross Brawn.
The tribunal has powers to impose a wide range of penalties, ranging from exclusion from the world championship right down to no penalty at all.
Previous punishments imposed by the FIA include:
- McLaren being fined $100m and stripped of all their constructors' points for 'spying' on Ferrari in 2007
- BAR-Honda being banned for two races for running an underweight car in 2005.
The Mercedes tyre test came to light at the Monaco Grand Prix, when one of the team's drivers inadvertently mentioned it at an official drivers' briefing.

On race morning in Monaco, Red Bull and Ferrari launched an official protest, accusing Mercedes of breaking article 22.4 of the sporting regulations, which defines what testing can be done in a season.
Pirelli has defended the test, saying it was neither secret nor inappropriate.
It has an agreement with the FIA that allows it to do tests up to a maximum of 1,000km if it feels it needs them to develop its tyres.

Pirelli is trying to change the rear tyres used in F1 this year to prevent a series of embarrassing failures. Teams will be trying a development tyre at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

Pirelli, which does not yet have a contract to continue as F1's tyre supplier in 2014, is also concerned that the new turbo engines being introduced next season will impose far heavier demands on the tyres than this year's cars.

It says that the Mercedes test was "90%" to do with 2014, with only the remainder devoted to running a development 2013 rear tyre.
Rivals are outraged that Mercedes - the team that has been struggling most with excessive rear tyre usage in races this season - should have the chance to try the tyres before them.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: "What is wrong is that a team, in an underhand way, consciously tested tyres that were designed for this year's championship."
Pirelli says the test was "blind", that Mercedes did not know which tyres were being used at any time and that the team were not allowed to change the set-up of the car".
The FIA said after Monaco that "at the beginning of May, it was asked by Pirelli if it was possible for it to carry out some tyre development testing with a team, using a current car.
"Within the contract Pirelli has with the FIA as single supplier, there is provision for them to carry out up to 1000km of testing with any team - provided every team is offered the opportunity to do so.
"Pirelli and Mercedes-AMG were advised by the FIA that such a development test could be possible if carried out by Pirelli, as opposed to the team that would provide the car and driver, and that such tests would be conditional upon every team being given the same opportunity to test in order to ensure full sporting equity."
Rivals say they have not been offered that opportunity. Pirelli says it sent an email to all the teams last year asking about the subject and received almost no replies.
Pirelli's conduct is also under investigation as part of this process and it could face penalties under the FIA code, although the sporting regulations do not apply to it.

Rosberg

Nico Rosberg says he and Lewis Hamilton did the tyre test for Pirelli because it is more representative for the tyre manufacturer.

While Mercedes has been called in front of the FIA International Tribunal, the case against Ferrari has been dropped because it used a 2011 car with Pedro de la Rosa at the wheel to conduct a similar test. During the driver press conference in Montreal, Rosberg was asked why it was the race drivers who did the Mercedes test rather than its reserve driver Sam Bird, and Rosberg said it was due to the more accurate data he and Hamilton could provide for Pirelli.

"I don't know, that was what the team decided," Rosberg said. "I think also for Pirelli it's better if we're in the car because it's more representative. Sam doesn't drive much so for sure he wouldn't be able to go on our pace and bring the Pirelli's through the laps exactly as we would.

"We had the experience of the grand prix that weekend also, so definitely for Pirelli it's an advantage to have us in the car I would say."

When he was asked about allegations that he and Hamilton were wearing anonymous helmets during the test, Rosberg declined to comment.

I know LRW posted that Mercedes are welcome,but I wanted BBC's full article

[Hammer278]

The Mercedes tyre test came to light at the Monaco Grand Prix, when one of the team's drivers inadvertently mentioned it at an official drivers' briefing.

Holy crap, I thought this was a joke! Was it Lewis? If it was, it's a major FACEPALM moment for Merc if it was supposed to be under wraps!

EDIT

I knew what I was testing - Rosberg

Nico Rosberg has admitted he knew which tyres he was testing during Mercedes' tyre test with Pirelli at Barcelona despite the tyre manufacturer saying the tests were conducted "in the dark".

Mercedes has been summoned to face the FIA's International Tribunal over the test, with Rosberg previously saying the team didn't have any control over what was carried out. When asked if he or Mercedes was able to learn anything from the test, Rosberg claimed: "Nope, just Pirelli. I was trying to give them as much information as possible and what I was feeling to help them out with their tyre development program."

However, when then asked if he knew which tyres he was testing, in contrast to recent comments from Pirelli Rosberg replied: "Yes, for sure, of course.

"Yeah, definitely, I was aware of what the ideas were and what they were testing because I need to know that to try and be able to pinpoint for them best what's going on and what directions are likely to be best for them."

Rosberg's comments come despite Pirelli stating previously:

"The tyre tests were conducted "in the dark", which means that the teams had no information on which specifications were being tested or about the goal of the testing; nor did they receive any type of information afterwards."

Rosberg also said he hadn't expected the furore that had erupted following the test.

"It definitely wasn't to be expected because for all I knew it was perfectly normal that we were doing that. That's what the whole team thought and that's why we did it, that's the only reason because definitely we don't want to do anything that's not allowed."

_____________________________________

This doesn't look good. Pirelli and Merc seem to have their stories all over the place....which just comes across as a mess. More and more it looks like a serious penalty on the way for Mercedes. As for Pirelli, whogivesash*t.

[myownalias]

It really doesn't matter who is at fault, the point is that the terms have been breached, tyre testing is only allowed when a 2 year old plus car is used and a non-current-race-driver performs the test, so that's a double whammy right there. I suspect it might be a similar punishment to McLaren in 2007, MASSIVE fine and the team loses all it's constructors points while the drivers keep their points, that punishes the team and not the drivers, as employees they are simply following instruction.