Mercedes-Pirelli tyre test row timeline

2013 F1 season

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The FIA has found Mercedes and Pirelli guilty of breaking the rules by conducting a test ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.

The decision was reached following the first meeting of the FIA’s new International Tribunal yesterday.

Here is how the events unfolded which led to them being found in contravention of the rules:

DateEvent
2012Ferrari conduct a tyre test for Pirelli, the date and further details of which have not been disclosed.
Tuesday 23rd – Wednesday 24th April 2013Ferrari conduct a tyre test for Pirelli at the Circuit de Catalunya using their 2011 car, the 150??? Italia.
Thursday 2nd May 2013Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows asks Charlie Whiting “whether Mercedes was permitted to participate in the Pirelli test, using a 2013 car”. Ross Brawn makes the same inquiry on the same day.
Whiting exchanges emails with FIA legal director Sebastien Bernard who says “we could take this position that it is Pirelli’s initiative to carry out such testing sessions, and not an undertaking from the competitors. However I think this is always subject to Pirelli complying strictly with its obligation to treat equally all competitors as per clause 4.2 of the supply agreement. This means that Pirelli shall invite all competitors to participate in such tests, and be able at any time to demonstrate that it has done so.”
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery confirmed to Whiting that “all the teams would be given a similar opportunity to test and that he would confirm that all of the teams had been informed once that had been done.”
Sunday 12th May 2013Fernando Alonso wins the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, for Ferrari. Mercedes occupy the front row of the grid for the race but their cars finish sixth and twelfth.
Wednesday 15th – Friday 17th May 2013Mercedes conduct a test for Pirelli at the Circuit de Catalunya using their current car, the W04. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg both drive during the test and do not use their regular race helmets.
A “track side engineering report” emailled from Pirelli to Mercedes following the conclusion of the test is marked as having “high importance” and “confidential sensitivity”.
Saturday 25th May 2013The details of the test emerge during a meeting between the FIA and the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton qualify first and second for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Sunday 26th May 2013Red Bull and Ferrari formally protest Mercedes’ test shortly before the beginning of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg wins the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton finishes fourth.
The stewards conduct hearings involving Ferrari and Red Bull (jointly), Mercedes and Pirelli (separately). Red Bull and Ferrari deny they were asked if they wanted to participate in the May test. The stewards note Brawn told them that “in the first five races of the year there had been several tyre failures. Mercedes was asked by Pirelli to conduct a tyre test for them, using current car and relevant drivers on the Barcelona track.”
The stewards refer the case to the FIA International Tribunal.
The FIA releases a statement saying “Within the contract Pirelli has with the FIA as single supplier, there is provision for them to carry out up to 1000km of testing with any team – provided every team is offered the opportunity to do so.”
Friday 31st May 2013Pirelli issues a lengthy statement on the tests, stating it “has not favoured any teams and, as always, acted professionally, with transparency and in absolute good faith”.
The FIA widens the scope of its inquiry to include Ferrari.
Friday 5th June 2013The FIA calls Mercedes and Pirelli to a hearing of the International Tribunal and dismisses the cases against Ferrari, noting “for this purpose a 2011 car is not deemed to contravene the applicable FIA rules”.
Saturday 6th June 2013Mercedes issue a statement saying they “welcome the opportunity to explain the full facts of the Pirelli test in an open and transparent manner at the International Tribunal.”
Wednesday 12th June 2013Pirelli files its response to the Tribunal, stating “Pirelli, in its capacity as third-party with respect to FIA, is not bound by the FIA’s regulatory and disciplinary power in virtue whereof the FIA cannot impose any sanctions on Pirelli.” Mercedes also files its response.
Friday 14th June 2013Red Bull files a response, calling on the FIA to impose “an adequate sporting penalty” on Mercedes. The FIA also files a response.
Saturday 15th June 2013Ferrari files its response.
Thursday 20th June 2013The FIA International Tribunal meets.
Friday 21st June 2013The Tribunal finds Mercedes and Pirelli in violation of the Sporting Regulations and International Sporting Code and reprimands both. Mercedes are also banned from participating in the Young Drivers’ Test.

Mercedes and Ferrari Pirelli tyre test row


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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    13 comments on “Mercedes-Pirelli tyre test row timeline”

    1. I’m an English teacher, so a large part of what I do in the classroom has my students trying to find their own individual meaning in a variety of texts. With that in mind, the following statement leaps out at me:

      “We could take this position that it is Pirelli’s initiative to carry out such testing sessions, and not an undertaking from the competitors. However I think this is always subject to Pirelli complying strictly with its obligation to treat equally all competitors as per clause 4.2 of the supply agreement. This means that Pirelli shall invite all competitors to participate in such tests, and be able at any time to demonstrate that it has done so.”

      Whiting specifically says that Pirelli have to invite all teams to these tests, using the plural. And the presence of that single letter ‘S’ has all manner of consequences: theoretically, it means that Pirelli was not obligated to invite the teams to the Barcelona test, and could instead conduct several tests throughout the year. Provided that they invited all of the teams to test at some point, they would have technically satisfied the conditions set out by Whiting. That might sound like grasping at straws, but it’s there in writing – Pirelli were never told that they had to invite every team to every test. This cold be supported by Paul Hembrey’s comments:

      “All the teams would be given a similar opportunity to test and that he would confirm that all of the teams had been informed once that had been done.”

      He never says that they would be given the same opportunity to test, only that they would be given an offer like it.

      1. That’s exactly the view I took as well, glad to see I’m not the only one.

    2. “track side engineering report” do we know the content of this report?

      1. @cyclops_pl No – probably because it’s “confidential”. The FIA has previous when it comes to accidentally revealing confidential information during its legal proceedings

        1. @keithcollantine

          I kind of counted on a repeat of that situation. The contents of said email would have shed a light on the matter of what kind of advantage Mercedes may have gained.

    3. Thanks for the timeline @keithcollantine, helps a lot, especially with the details like the e-mails etc. filled in!

    4. @keithcollantine Thanks for the nice summary.

      Lets says Ferrari did the test in 2012 for the 2013 tires. Does’nt that mean that they are having an unfair advantage now. They had tire problems last year, which seems to have vanished this year. I could be very well because of the 2012 Massa tests.

      The same can be said about Mercedes will they gain any advantage in 2014 because of this test ?

      The whole thing is a mess.

      1. Another thing here is that no one but Mercedes seem to be impressed by the fact Ferrari tested with an old car which probably means that they all did.

        1. @peartree

          You could be right, and none of US know. It wouldn’t surprise me at this point.

          It just seems that everyone has they hand in the cookie jar at the moment.

    5. Great article which really shows how unforgivably slovenly the FIA are at dealing with these affairs.

      In a world (and a sport) where gigabytes of data are sent, shared, discussed, analysed, and decided upon in real time, it is farcical that the FIA couldn’t have requested on Sunday that copies of emails and initial depositions be sent by Monday, set up a conference call on Tuesday, and have the whole thing dealt with in a couple of days. I’m sure we’ve all worked in companies where more complicated things than this are decided in shorter timeframes using input from people in different countries or timezones. Nope, almost 2months delay and a two day trip to Paris for busy people to deal with it in person. You can bet that Brawn and Horner probably got more work done in their team principal roles in their hotel rooms over the two days than the FIA managed in a month.

      It also shows how despite acres of lawyers, the FIA can’t even ensure it’s written a set of rules on what testing is or when it is allowed to happen.

      1. @hairs

        written a set of rules on what testing is or when it is allowed to happen.

        This they really need to sort out. I mean, how many times have we heard of teams running their cars, but it’s ok, because it’s to shoot camera footage for advertising.

        In the end, ANY running outside of races and tests shouldn’t be allowed. And if you don’t stick to that, you can’t make it fair.

    6. if they used the current car how did they get round the limit on number of engines to be used in the season and the number of races each engine has to last for?

      1. We’ve had that question at least twice already! Here’s an earlier answer.

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