Mercedes accused of illegal tyre testing by Red Bull & Ferrari

henners, the additional track time for the drivers alone is already a big advantage. We're still early in the season having 3 additional GP distances (or 1.5 each) to further get comfortable in the car is already worth a lot, even if the engineers couldn't get a byte of data. And even in unrestricted testing a lot depends on driver feedback. Not everything can be determined by sensors.

Also, I didn't read anywhere that some FIA officials were there to supervise it. Do we take Mercedes' and Pirelli's word for it that they really didn't gather any data?

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Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster

henners, the additional track time for the drivers alone is already a big advantage. We're still early in the season having 3 additional GP distances (or 1.5 each) to further get comfortable in the car is already worth a lot, even if the engineers couldn't get a byte of data. And even in unrestricted testing a lot depends on driver feedback. Not everything can be determined by sensors.

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I agree for the drivers it is an advantage but its the technical advantage that the teams are more worried about. The whole thing was handled badly by Pirelli, Mercedes and the FIA. The pointing of fingers now is just damage limitation by everyone concerned. The governing body should have been aware of what was going on, Mercedes should have doubled checked everything was Ok to resume rather than just taking Charlie Whiting's word for it and Pirelli should have had the permissions in writing.

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Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster

Also, I didn't read anywhere that some FIA officials were there to supervise it. Do we take Mercedes' and Pirelli's word for it that they really didn't gather any data?

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I haven't read anywhere whether the FIA were present either. They should have been and if they can't believe Pirelli and Mercedes concerning data, they will have to prove otherwise. Punishments can't be issued on assumptions really.

Given that Merc won this one , it shows us , and hopefully the FIA , that testing is important .

Ambiguous wording will let Merc off the hook , but will force the FIA to schedule a 1000km test for all the teams .

They will all get the same chance to sort their cars , and Pirelli will see the current cars on their tires and have a chance to get real data .

Tough to reconcile the advantage Merc has taken , though , in terms of the championship .
Perhaps , while the other teams wait for their own tests , the Mercs could be demoted grid positions at each GP until the tests are done .
It is an awkward time though , as they leave for Canada .

Pirelli have alleged two other teams were offered testing but only two teams lodged the complaint: Ferrari & RBR.

AMuS have reported one of the teams to be RBR and the interweb has evidence of Ferrari conducting a secret tyre test after Bahrain

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLgd-frgoP.../761441128.jpg

I don't think the test made much difference for Monaco. Pretty much everyone, including Red Bull and Ferrari said that Merc was going to win that one anyway. It's the one track were you can run 6 seconds off pace to nurse tires and still be in relatively low danger of being overtaken and this is what happened. On full tanks both Rosberg and hamilton ran ridiculously slow. A Caterham driving the fastest lap in lap 6 was all you need to know about how Merc pulled it off. They could have done that without the test. Canada and Silverstone will tell the true story. If they suddenly leapfrogged RB in tire management there, too, some questions will be asked and you can bet on Horner and Marko throwing a tantrum of epic proportions.

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Originally Posted by wedge

Pirelli have alleged two other teams were offered testing but only two teams lodged the complaint: Ferrari & RBR.

AMuS have reported one of the teams to be RBR and the interweb has evidence of Ferrari conducting a secret tyre test after Bahrain

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Ferrari ran a 2010 car and Pedro de la Rosa though, which is perfectly within the rules

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Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster

Ferrari ran a 2010 car and Pedro de la Rosa though, which is perfectly within the rules

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And about as much use as a chocolate teapot to 2013 tyre safety evaluation, let alone 2014.......

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Originally Posted by SGWilko

And about as much use as a chocolate teapot to 2013 tyre safety evaluation, let alone 2014.......

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That's true, but it's still in the rules. German law also requires me to stop at a red light at 3am even if I'm in the only car on the road for miles in each direction. It's the rules and if they don't make sense there are ways to have them changed. Had the teams unanimously agreed to a rule change after the 2012 emails of Pirelli and the rebuttal from FOTA, we wouldn't have this discussion. Since they didn't, they have to abide to the rules, even if they are not making much sense in the circumstances.

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Originally Posted by SGWilko

That's quite a statement, do you have conclusive evidence of this?

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If his statement is true, then Ross Brawn was a downright liar on Sky, because he stated while others packed away Mercedes didnt and other teams could see that and could have asked why they weren't. He said they hid nothing.

Now if that were a lie someone might have spotted that I feel

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Originally Posted by steveaki13

If his statement is true, then Ross Brawn was a downright liar on Sky, because he stated while others packed away Mercedes didnt and other teams could see that and could have asked why they weren't. He said they hid nothing.

Now if that were a lie someone might have spotted that I feel

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What Ross Brawn wants us to believe is that Merc played with open cards, which I don't think they did. They probably packed away enough stuff still, since I doubt they left their huge-arse Motorhome standing for the whole week. Even the FIA said it was completely left in the dark about that test. How does one pull that off without at least some subterfuge? It's not like all FIA officials run off as soon as the flag drops. I simply don't buy Brawn's reasoning. Every farkin' straight-line test and show event is reported in the media and somehow Merc managed to keep a full-blown 3 day test a secret by being completely open with all other people? Who's supposed to buy that?