Just read that Mercs defence may be that they have an email from Charlie Whiting agreeing to them using their 2013 car!!!!! Lots more info yet to come out I think.
Mercedes have been dodgy and they know it, that's why they tried to keep it secret, their "we wanted privacy, not secrecy" excuse is total BS, you don't need privacy for two weeks afterwards. They went about everything very slyly for a reason IMO. Read an interesting article on it the other day (sorry, can't remember where) and it suggested it was more a political thing between Ecclestone and the FIA over who gets to choose the suppliers, with the FIA wanting Michelin in 2011 and BE wanting Pirelli, and it's really all about that and the FIA trying to regain control.
Who would of thought 2-3 years ago. My most hated driver becomes the greatest asset to Mercedes. My most loved driver is trying to kick my dear Mercedes out of sport. DRAMA I TELL YOU DRAMA!!! You could make a film of this. [video=youtube;ek8Gex_NYwQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek8Gex_NYwQ[/video]
It seems that a number of teams have been offered tests. If what the FIA said (They okayed it so long as all teams got a chance) is true, then Pirelli and Merc COULD be in the clear.
More importantly it's now rumoured that Whiting himself revealed the test during the Monaco drivers' briefing (has to be taken with a pinch a salt, only a few hours before it was Rosberg via Vettel who revealed it). If he knew it happened that must mean he gave them permission. Not that that exonerates Mercedes who knew the test was illegal. Hopefully Whiting gets the sack over it, he has no idea what he's doing, everything he touches turns into a scandal of some sort.
There was no permission from Whiting according to Bild: Anyway the date for the tribunal is June 20th. Any punishment and I say Brawn is out. Too easy for Toto and Lauda.
Horner's position unchanged Sky Bet 2013 Constructors' Championship Red Bull 4/7 Ferrari 15/8 Mercedes 16/1 Formula 1 Betting £10 Free Bet Christian Horner has revealed Red Bull were approached by Pirelli to carry out an in-season test but rejected the opportunity as they felt it would have been in breach of the Sporting Regulations. A key aspect of the Testgate saga, and one which is likely to feature prominently when the saga is presented to the FIA International Tribunal, is whether all 11 teams were awarded the same opportunity to carry out a tyre test. Lotus and Force India confirmed to Sky Sports F1 they had not been approached by Pirelli when news broke during the Monaco GP weekend, but the latest revelation from Horner puts a fresh perspective on the on-going row. "We believe it is the responsibility of the entrant to comply with the regulations, so when it came to light that a test with the current car had taken place, our interpretation of the rules was that that was in clear breach of them. Therefore we raised a protest prior to the race for it to be dealt with by the FIA," the Red Bull Team Principal said during Friday's tense press conference. Live on Sky Sports Live Formula One 2013 Canadian Grand Prix: Qualifying June 8, 2013 5:00pm Remote RecordGet a Sky Sports Day PassUpgrade to Sky Sports "It is really an issue between the team and the FIA and obviously Pirelli have asked several teams to test - ourselves included - but we have declined to do so as we felt it wasn't in line with the regulations, certainly with the current car. So that is the situation, it has gone to the tribunal and we trust the FIA to make the appropriate decision regarding it. "The important thing is that there needs to be absolute clarity in what you can do and what you can't do, what I testing and what isn't testing and I think that that is more crucial than anything to be fully resolved." Mercedes have repeatedly stressed that they learned nothing from the test and simply assisted Pirelli during the running. However, Horner is adamant that amount of extra mileage will have been of major benefit to the team. "I think that whenever you have limited testing with the rules written as they are, then when you run a current car with the amount of technology and the amount of data analysis there is then you are always learning - whether it is reliability, whether it be endurance, whether it be performance," he argued. Live on Sky Sports Live Formula One 2013 Canadian Grand Prix June 9, 2013 5:30pm Remote RecordGet a Sky Sports Day PassUpgrade to Sky Sports "So of course even if you are testing a component for another supplier you are learning. Formula 1 has moved an awfully long way over the last few years to ensure fairness and equality to all of the entrants and I think if a team does carry out an extra 1000km with a current car then you are going to learn something." The fact that Mercedes' tyre test appeared to have been carried out in secret also angered Horner. "I think the lack of transparency has been disappointing," he said. "If a supplier has issues then they obviously have to deal with them, but if all entrants are supposedly equal, I think it is important that that information is made perfectly clear."
I'm not sure he was blaming Pirelli exactly but implying that because it was a Pirelli test, not a Mercedes one, that it was legitimate.
I think I get what Brawn is saying, he is secretly hinting that there was a major grey area defining "Pirelli test" define it etc... Where in the rules does it say anything about it's limits etc etc...
The whining about the is ridiculous. Give them a slap on the wist and then make sure all the other teams have the option to test. Level playing field, scandal over, and maybe Horner and Ferrari will SHUT THE **** UP ABOUT IT.
