FIA (International Automobile Federation) has announced that it will start an investigation after Red Bull and Ferrari teams have filed a complaint about a private test conducted in Barcelona by the sole tire supplier for Formula 1, Pirelli, with the Mercedes team.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, on Sunday, Red Bull and Ferrari filed an official protest with FIA Commissioners after it was discovered that Pirelli and Mercedes have conducted a secret three-day test session (May 15 to 17), while the tests are prohibited throughout the season.
Red Bull and Ferrari accused Mercedes of violating Article 22.4 of the sporting regulations, according to which tests are prohibited throughout the season except for one three-day session for a young pilot or except a straight line aerodynamic test. Rival teams were not informed of the test conducted by Mercedes, which involved not only the use of the F1W04 race car, but also the drivers, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Opponents believe that Mercedes can benefit from a significant technical advantage in the fight for the world titles, while Pirelli will change the composition of the tires for the rest of the season.
“I can understand Pirelli wanting to test the tires, they’ve obviously got issues with the tires. What’s disappointing is it’s been done in a manner that is not transparent, that a three-day test has taken place with a current car running on tires that are going to be used at the next grand prix. Irrespective of what you call it, that’s testing,” said Red Bull principal, Christian Horner, who said he only found out Saturday night about the Pirelli-Mercedes test.
“What’s wrong is that a team, in an underhand way, consciously tested tyres that were designed for this year’s championship,” Horner added.
Opponents of the Germans speculate that Mercedes is looking for a solution after having big problems with tire wear in the beginning of this championship, despite the fact that the team showed excellent results in qualifications.
In Spain, Mercedes has monopolized the front row of the grid and finished in sixth place with a driver (Rosberg) and the other one (Hamilton) in 12th place. None of them had any incident during the race. “Silver Arrows” are very fast in qualifying and very slow in the race. This difference was visible in Bahrain, when Rosberg finished in 9th place, although it started from pole position. At Monaco, Rosberg finally won after he started in pole position, but the result is not meaningful, given that on the streets of Monte Carlo is very difficult to overtake other cars.
On the other hand, Pirelli defends itself claiming that it has a contract with the FIA, which allows for limited tests and the test in Barcelona is part of the regulatory provisions.
FIA admitted that it has an agreement with Pirelli for conducting tire development tests with a team using a current season car, up to 1,000 kilometers, but said that the Italian manufacturer must have provided this chance to all teams. In early May, Pirelli asked permission from FIA to conduct a series of tests and the federation advised the tire manufacturer to offer this opportunity to all teams to ensure complete fairness.
“Following this communication, the FIA received no further information about a possible test from Pirelli or Mercedes. Furthermore, the FIA received no confirmation that all teams had been given an opportunity to take part in this test.”
However, after this, the FIA has not received any information about a possible test from Pirelli or Mercedes-AMG. Moreover, FIA did not receive a confirmation that all the teams were given the opportunity to take part in this test, said the FIA, in a statement.
FIA added that, based on the report of the Commissioners, it might send this case to its court to decide possible sanctions.
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