Tribunal adorned, off to do a few... bble obble black bobble ibble obble out ibble obble black bobble ibble obble out ibble obble black bobble ibble obble – O U T spells out ….and so on
Could still get 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 out on the table yet and get away with a straight. Realistaclly, it's looking about as good as my online poker accounts........
on a side note, I wonder how much money the Lawyer is pocketing for his "they did it too" defence, I think even I could come up with something better, and I'd do it for a tenner.
I like this summary: FIA says Mercedes didn't get permission. Mercedes they didn't need it because it was Pirelli's test. Pirelli says you're not the boss of me.
The crux of the matter is that Mercedes can't prove Pirelli carried out the test, because they made sure there was no one there to supervise it. If they were innocent they would've been happy to have other teams and FIA officials there to supervise it. Permission from the FIA and GPDA is irrelevant (even if it was given, which in itself is doubtful) since they don't have the power to overturn rules midseason.
Isn't that the responsibility of Charlie Whiting though? If he and the FIA's lawyers gave them permission to do the test then it's up to them to send someone there. Charlie Whiting knew about it and the test took place after the Spanish GP so it wouldn't have been difficult to do. Or maybe Pirelli should have organised for someone to be present. I could be wrong though.
What should of happened is Mercedes gives Pirelli a car for the day and that's the end of there involvement. Pirelli will then run the car with it's own team and driver behind closed doors.
The teams would still need to be informed. If they did it with FIA supervision but without permission from the teams then the FIA would be in the dock as well. The teams would want assurances that the testing ban wasn't being broken and would no doubt insist on their own representatives being present to make sure the regulations were being adhered to. Unless I've missed something it still hasn't come out how the test became public knowledge has it?
Mercedes are so screwed. Their defense was awful: 1. We didn't break any rules - the test was undertaken by Pirelli 2. Ferrari should be be punished as well 3. We didn't gain any advantage from the test 4. Sorry for using black helmets 5. Our penalty should be minor They must know they're in trouble
