But wouldnt you say that that Mercedes test could have made a difference to safety in Formula 1? It could have made a difference between life or death of a driver on the grid. Maybe it was illegal, but that test may still save a life on the track I think. What I think is that if all the teams had agreed to a tyre test to assist Pirelli then the FIA would have gone along with that. Then it wouldnt have been illegal and the tyres would have been much safer. I dont want to judge Mercedes as to what their reasons were for doing that test but to me from what happened yesterday I am pretty convinced that the teams should have helped Pirelli instead of beating down on them now.
Yes, Dhel; I think you're making a valid point. 1000ks of testing must have improved Pirelli's knowledge and increased the chance of a better product. It is unfortunate that any benefits were overshadowed by other matters because what really matters is that F1 has safe tyres to run on!
What else is he supposed to say? "Yes, i think we should have massive changes that will probably ruin the very good season that my team is having"
Sounds like the FIA are going to allow the 'Young Drivers Test' to be a Pirelli tyre test!!!!!! The teams can use any driver!!! Merc will not be allowed to test! Interesting turn of events. Using any driver at the test should help to level the playing field with Merc. Mind you the teams might get to test 'new' tyres and be told what the tyres are! So Merc may loose out big time!!!!
If the young drivers test will now be a tyre test with current drivers then wouldnt that be a different ball game and the recent ruling null and void? If you have changed the young drivers test and current drivers and teams are given the data, information on what tyres they are testing etc. then I think Mercedes will have grounds for a protest. If they are going to test tyres then they would have to do a similar test to what Mercedes did or else they will be trying to justifying wrong by doing wrong themselves. I say do the tyres test but information that was kept secret from Mercedes should also be kept secret from the other teams too. That would give everybody a level playing field, the teams will be happy and Pirelli will have safer tyres.
"Yes, I think we should change the tyres given that there is a risk one of my two extremely talented drivers might suffer serious injury." Note once again that changes to the tyres' durability have been explicitly ruled out on both sides; the current issue is one of their construction, the belt that holds the tyres together, for example.
Mercedes have confirmed that they won't take part in the test even though its no longer a young driver's test.
Although I can understand these thoughts of "levelling the playing field" but not tipping it the other way, I am not sure it would give firm ground for a Mercedes protest. After all, they were 'punished' for their part in recent events; and therefore were found to be at fault to some extent. Mercedes have been perceived by many like a dog leaving a scene with its tail between its legs, knowing that the findings might have been far worse; so I am sure that although Ross Brawn might raise an eyebrow or two, he would prefer to let the matter pass, if for no other reason than to demonstrate some 'good will' – whether or not it's actually necessary.
Yes, I agree with you totally there about the goodwill factor and not pushing the envelope too much. But most of all I hope with this latest development that all the talk about illegal tests and unfair advantage will end and the drivers and teams can concentrate on racing.
Yeah; it would be best for all if the matter could be put well and truly aside. Ross Brawn is well aware that bending over backwards slightly more than necessary – i.e. not protesting that Mercedes will actually be worse off, relative to other teams than if nothing had happened – will be seen as a self-sacrificing effort to help everyone move on.
Mercedes should be allowed to test on the basis that the first blowout in the race happened on one of their cars.
How did mercedes gain an advantage they have been quick all season the have been on pole more times then not, many more times before the test. Wake up and smell the beans and look at the stats.
Looks like Pirelli really did change from steel to kevlar - Marca have reported that McLaren and Sauber found kevlar in their destroyed tyres. http://www.marca.com/2013/07/01/motor/formula1/gp-gran-bretana/1372672736.html Derek Warwick (President of BRDC) said "these kerbs have been in since 2009 and we have had thousands and thousands of cars go over these kerbs and they have been absolutely fine. We have had them checked by the FIA and they conform fully with the FIA." The delaminations were happening in different places on the track, suggesting it was a problem with the tyre construction rather than the kerbs. Before illegal test: 72 points in five races After illegal test: 99 points in three races
I am sure there are good arguments on both sides. I am also sure that these will have been taken into account in the investigations by the tribunal. In cases of arbitration such as this, it is rare for any party involved to feel that the outcome is perfect. Indeed, if that were ever the case, it might be argued that the tribunal could have been partisan. The best thing is to have very clear rules, without sub-clauses and exceptions; where the leadership of any ruling body ensures that its lines of communication are fully understood by everyone and that exceptions in it should not occur – for fear of undermining its own, firm, clear rules! My personal feeling is that Jean Toadt is either weak and reticent, or is perceived as such; which opens possibilities for others to feel (rightly or wrongly) that they should take responsibility beyond their remit, or that their efforts to base personal decisions upon unclear guidelines or mis-managed communication might be justified or correct. Strong leadership leaves people in no doubt. A strong FIA should leave no possibility of doubt amongst competitors and their trusting sponsors, who invest millions and millions and millions of pounds sterling each and every year because they put faith in 'the system'. Situations like this arise as the product of weak communication which allow some parties to justify their actions upon the resulting vagueness (loopholes)! It might be argued that the rules were and are clear. But equally, it could – and has – been argued that the circumstances of Pirelli's tyre test made this an exception (rightly or wrongly) for Mercedes on this occasion – which was taken into account by the tribunal as being a valid argument, precisely because of the unusual circumstances! Furthermore, it could – and has been – argued that incompetence within the FIA with regard to its communication structure and leadership, is ultimately the background for this whole debacle, since it provided the possibility of different interpretation by different parties. In a nutshell, it is my personal belief that the ultimate source of the problem has been weak leadership within the governing body. And that, my friends, leads straight to one man…
The six hours of Silverstone WEC race was held there two months ago, 31 cars pounding round for six hours. No problems. Also, before illegal test: One win in three and a bit years. After illegal test: Two wins in three races. Mercedes could argue that their punishment doesn't stretch to the new test as it's no longer to be conducted by young drivers, but if that's the case they'd need to be hauled before the International Tribunal to suggest a new punishment, since the original one would become invalid. Mercedes know that recent results form a pretty damning case against the "in good faith" and "we didn't learn anything from it" arguments, so they surely wouldn't be treated so leniently a second time around. Therefore it's in their own best interests to let the tyre test go ahead without them. Also, I'm sure Ross Brawn and Lewis Hamilton said yesterday that they tested a tyre for this season that was safer than the current ones. Before the tribunal they were adamant they didn't know what tyres had been tested.
Cosicave - one question though – since they will be given an extra day of testing wouldnt that be a lot more than the 1000km illegal test?..lol
I think Ross Brawn has sufficient politically nous to avoid putting his team back into the spotlight – even if he feels the table is tipped backed too far. Perhaps he might complain if everyone else were to be given 10,000km of test by way of compensation, but I expect him to be philosophical about the more likely outcome – even if all other teams manage to get 3,000…
