As I noted in my second post in this thread, I realize that not everybody will see things from my perspective on this one, but I feel compelled to lay things out from start to finish for the first (and last?) time.
We know Pirelli asked other teams to test for them. Red Bull declined, and as Champions 3 times running, I can understand that position. Ferrari and Massa did indeed take them up on the offer the week before Spain without anyone's knowledge. Very little is known about that test still. Mercedes indicated they knew extensive part testing occurred. At some point within the next two weeks, Ross Brawn corresponds with Charles Whiting about the possibility that a 2013 machine could be used to test 2014 Spec Pirelli's. Charlie inquires with FIA lawyers. They know about Pirelli's test agreement, and give the go-ahead. Mercedes end up testing 900km (of 1000) on experimental 2014 rubber that will almost certainly never see the light of day, most likely because the additional testing will lead to significant changes ahead.
Here's where it gets interesting.
For reasons unknown, Whiting brings up the Mercedes test at a GPDA directors meeting in Monaco. I believe he was so candid because he had done his due diligence with the lawyers representing the Governing Body. Vettel, being a director, relays this information to his team who then launch into hysterics and protest to the Stewards with Ferrari hopping on board as well. It quickly becomes clear that the FIA indeed had (some) knowledge of the Pirelli test, and they would appear incompetent over the coming weeks in the run-up to the Tribunal as bits of info dripped out.
After weeks of speculation, innuendo, and hyperbole, the FIA was given an "out" by Mercedes when they themselves suggested that they could accept a "punishment" of being excluded from the upcoming Young Drivers Test. I think it's likely that Mercedes would have walked away with less of a "sentence" if it weren't for this olive branch to the other outfits. The fact remains that the team was merely "reprimanded" by the Governing Body. Their own lawyers approved the test, and it would have been an incredible miscarriage of justice if the first case seen by the newly commissioned International Court of Appeals was seen to be yet another example of an FIA Kangaroo Court. I don't think Jean and the boys at the FIA were pleased that they were made to look completely foolish on a number of accounts throughout the whole ordeal. But I do give them credit for a fair verdict in light of their legal departments acquiescence to the test. Two teams were particularly displeased with this ruling, Red Bull and somewhat ironically, the other team involved in private testing, Ferrari.
The events of the British GP presented a golden opportunity for the two most aggrieved parties of the so called "test-gate". The sport was in crisis mode when it became all too apparent that something was amiss with either Pirelli's product, or the way they were being used. Without hesitation, Ferrari and Red Bull suggested that instead of going ahead with the Young Drivers Test, race drivers should be used to help Pirelli solve whatever problems they might have. And almost equally as fast, the FIA agreed that this would be a suitable course of action. Nevermind the fact that the tire supplier hadn't even issued a statement as to the root cause of the troubles. So not only was this a golden opportunity for the teams, the FIA got to kill two birds with one stone here by appeasing the outfits that had complained so vociferously, and by turning the screws on the team that played them like a fiddle earlier in the year.
Mercedes tested potential 2014 tires. This test will feature 2013 rubber. Mercedes did not test parts, largely due to the fact that as
Batman astutely points out, when you're doing back to back tests on different experimental sets of tires, the setup must remain the same to ensure reliable data. This test will be unlimited in parts testing. For these two reasons alone I see absolutely no comparison whatsoever in the testing undertaken by Mercedes with a Pirelli program, and the unbridled in season test now about to unfold. I recognize the fact that race drivers will only be given one day at the test, and I see this as an admission that they know full well that Pirelli's product is safe, and that 3 (even 4?) days testing of this kind of testing would quite literally leave Merc by the wayside. That is not the FIA's goal.
The FIA, in my mind, is trying to assert themselves as being in complete control of the sport again. Having been seen in recent weeks as having authorized what some still consider "secret and illegal" testing, and by presiding over a top series in which the tire manufacturer was briefed to create degradable tires, but appeared to have taken that mandate a bit too far and was now creating a possible safety risk. By acting swiftly in the manner in which they did, I can't help but feel this has been a deliberate act designed to send a message to both Mercedes and to the fans worldwide that they are still indeed the big dog on the block.
My wisdom is only assumption based on the myriad of confusing facts and misinformation routinely fed into my multi-personality infested brain by the F1 media hordes.
Mine too....
