This whole thing leaves a sour taste for a number of reasons. Why was this little rule written in the first place? If Pirelli desperately need to test the tyres in-season the test should be opened up to all teams, not just one. This whole thing has reminded me of the fact Ferrari are able to veto regulations and I suspect this has been slipped into the regulations with the intention of giving Ferrari some extra curricular test sessions. It's odd that the FIA presumably didn't force Pirelli to open up the test to everyone else when they did the Bahrain test with Ferrari, but made that demand when they asked to do one with Pirelli. Also, Pirelli have been prevented from testing with the old Renault because there were suspicions it was favouring Lotus. So why were they allowed a similar arrangement with Ferrari in Bahrain? This whole thing has just made me feel their now needs to be a tyre war in F1. The whole point of a single supplier is that it's fair, but there have now been accusations that Lotus, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes have been favoured by Pirelli. There are protests flying all over the place. At least in a tyre war a team can change manufacturer if they feel their being mistreated by their supplier. This is a farce. On another tyre related note, they ruined another race today. It was sickening seeing how slow the cars were today, drivers were lifting through the tunnel, how many decades do you have to go back to find the last time that was necessary? Everyone was coasting through the swimming pool section, that's supposed to be the most impressive place in the world to watch F1 cars, not any more. Vettel set a lap two seconds faster at the end of the race, presumably he was driving slightly within himself even then given what was at stake if he tapped a barrier. It isn't racing anymore, I'm getting seriously disillusioned with it now, watching the rest of this season will be a real chore.
I think the testing fiasco has masked how todays race played out. Mercedes were basically on a Sunday drive round the track knowing no one would get close to overtaking them. In the final run Hamilton (pointlessly) was having a go at Webber and his tyres were shot at the end, he could have been in trouble if the Kimi-Perez incident hadn't backed up the pack. Canada is another low wear circuit with moderate temperatures but I fear for the races when teams are required to push.
This is what it all boils down to, F1 in general is a hypocrite. The teams, fans and FIA want things spiced up but when it becomes a struggle they all moan. I think this season is a little to much but overall Pirelli have done a good job. They got moaned at last year for being to conservative despite basically guessing how the tyre use would unfold over the season. They need to be able to do the tests like they did with Ferrari and Mercedes but it should be in house with only absolutely essential team mechanics to help.
I believe there's more to this than meets the eye; as you say yourself, "the FIA are dropping Pirelli and Mercedes in it". There must be more going on here that we don't yet know; the fact that this test was, conveniently, only revealed this morning when, realistically, it must have been known about since it happened is enough to convince me that there's something fishy going on here. This is F1, after all.
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They haven't though. The races were supposed to be fast and frantic. In terms of pitstops they're roughly where they should be, but the tyres aren't fit for the cars, a driver should be able to keep it pinned through the tunnel. I don't entirely blame Pirelli, their situation's been made impossible really by having limited testing, an outdated test car, and the need to supply tyres to 11 unique, high performance, precision engineered cars to be used in a variety of conditions on 19 different circuits. Oh and the additional slightly dodgy remit of them being fast wearing.
Which brings us back to this so-called illegal test. I believe that they were asked to deliver the impossible anyway.
Big P.R. mistake. Some very bad handling of Pirelli's request for this (and Ferrari's partially hidden?) test, together with no clear ultimatum imposed upon Pirelli for the FIA to be informed of any development in a decision to conduct one. Clearly, a vague acknowledgement was insufficient, and may appear to provide ground for defence of Pirelli's decision to go ahead without further consultation. The way I see it, this hints at some breakdown in communication â or at least that this idea may be raised by one or more parties to defend their position(s). As a consequence, this may easily be perceived as a lack of transparency (deliberate or otherwise); and I believe it is this which provides reasonable ground for Red Bull's objection. And yes, if I was pulling Little Jack Horner's strings, I'd have him say it too. But the problem should never have been allowed to develop in the first place! â Anyone and everyone in F1 should know that if such events give just a hint of being swept under a convenient carpet, they risk their world caving in. I cannot but wonder* if such indiscretion (if indeed this proves to be the case) was at least in part a product of Pirelli's frustration with what they may feel has become an unreasonable situation. Bring back limited testing of current cars and make it a requirement that any testing of tyres, whether this year's or next, coincides within it; for without proper supervision â which is necessarily transparent â there will always be a risk of these situations developing. - - -o0o- - - *The bottom line is that we should not be guessingâ¦
This whole tyre farce could have been easily resolved if Pirelli had hosted a testing session that all teams could attend.. As it stands it stinks.
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707 guests now, surely that's a record? [Well, on the F1 board anyway.] edit: Looking up, apparently not... To repeat what others have said, sign-up is quick, we're a friendly bunch, and one of the quickest forums I've found for latest news. Discussions vary from race day chat, to more technical threads on updates to cars, and any news that breaks gets thoroughly discussed. We've also got a wide range of drivers supported, so we're not all going to gang up on you for supporting Schumacher/Hamilton/Alonso/Vettel, or anyone else who's occasionally controversial. Back on topic, the stewards meeting post-race must have ended, so do we have any conclusions from that? Or is it just going to a higher level and that's it for now? I know the race results are certain.
