pirateplunder
Rookie
When reading comments/statements from other teams it seems to become a lot muddier - Ferrari for example add the word 'formally' to being asked to test a current car.
So if they didn't think it was possible, the idea must have come up?
Horner says
which again suggests that some informal requests were made? I've read somewhere else that Redbul turned down a test opportunity because they believed they couldn't use the current car.
To me the issue is becoming more, did other teams turn down the offers to test (formal requests that we know went out last year and presumably Ferrari had one this year, as they tested with Pirelli and infomral requests following up those formal ones last year) because they assumed they couldn't use the 2013 car? But Mercedes decided that they could? Yet the FIA have clearly stated that subject to conditions, the 2013 car can be used.
What is the crux of the issue? That it was a 2013 car, that all teams weren't offered? It seems that using the 2013 car isn't necessarily a no-no. It appears that some level of offer has been made to other teams, but perhaps they assumed it wasn't possible with a 2013 car. Did all the other teams get offered the chance to test when Ferrari did? Did Pirelli suggest using the 2013 car then but Ferrari said no based on their interpretation of the rules?
if Merc are in trouble for other teams not being explicitly given the opportunity to test on these dates then did they and other teams get the same explicit opportunity in Bahrain? If not is that Ferrari's fault? If they are in trouble for using a 2013 car then why did the FIA say a 2013 car could be used. If they are in trouble for doing the test themselves, for not checking the FIA were fully aware etc then fair enough. But then we don't have all the facts about that yet. I still think when you break it down into the component issues its a lot less clear cut.
"That's why, even if they didn't formally ask us, we did not believe that it was possible to do it."
So if they didn't think it was possible, the idea must have come up?
Horner says
We never believed it complied with the regulations.....So any requests to test have always been, in the view of the majority of the teams in the paddock, outside of the regulations - so not possible.
which again suggests that some informal requests were made? I've read somewhere else that Redbul turned down a test opportunity because they believed they couldn't use the current car.
To me the issue is becoming more, did other teams turn down the offers to test (formal requests that we know went out last year and presumably Ferrari had one this year, as they tested with Pirelli and infomral requests following up those formal ones last year) because they assumed they couldn't use the 2013 car? But Mercedes decided that they could? Yet the FIA have clearly stated that subject to conditions, the 2013 car can be used.
What is the crux of the issue? That it was a 2013 car, that all teams weren't offered? It seems that using the 2013 car isn't necessarily a no-no. It appears that some level of offer has been made to other teams, but perhaps they assumed it wasn't possible with a 2013 car. Did all the other teams get offered the chance to test when Ferrari did? Did Pirelli suggest using the 2013 car then but Ferrari said no based on their interpretation of the rules?
if Merc are in trouble for other teams not being explicitly given the opportunity to test on these dates then did they and other teams get the same explicit opportunity in Bahrain? If not is that Ferrari's fault? If they are in trouble for using a 2013 car then why did the FIA say a 2013 car could be used. If they are in trouble for doing the test themselves, for not checking the FIA were fully aware etc then fair enough. But then we don't have all the facts about that yet. I still think when you break it down into the component issues its a lot less clear cut.