Mercedes' secret F1 test controversy

on Sunday morning of the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix news broke of one of the most controversial Formula One sagas of the 21st century it was a tale of secret testing hidden identities and rules Rouse one that ended with Mercedes being hit with a ban and that so distrust among f1's top teams it's a complicated story full of fascinating details that played out very publicly and it's involved some of the biggest names in Formula One including Lewis Hamilton Nico rosberg and Ross Braun as well as raising questions about how the FIA handled the situation and while it came to public attention at Monaco in late May with the dramatic courtroom conclusion almost a month later it all started much earlier in the season Pirelli became f1's control Tire supplier in 2011 and had a rough time over its first two seasons with widespread criticism variously of performance too much degradation and at times late in 2012 of there being not enough degradation Pirelli was optimistic heading into 2013 producing tires with the new construction featuring a switch from Kevlar to Steel belts softer sidewalls and stronger shoulders the expectation was that these tires would give more feel boost traction and produce the degradation levels demanded by F1 instead there was criticism from Red Bull in particular the tires were load sensitive and too easy to overwork there were also safety concerns after a series of Tire delaminations early in the year notably the two suffered by Ferrari driver Felipe Massa in the Bahrain Grand Prix on his way to 15th Place which followed a similar failure for Hamilton during practice the weakness found by Pirelli was in the shoulder which was failing after high temperatures caused by small Cuts in the tires that's not cut deep enough for a puncture but the usual little Nicks that tires pick up when being run Red Bull was at the Forefront of lobbying publicly and privately for change given it had to compromise its performance significantly to make the tires last even Red Bull co-owner Dietrich matoshits made a rare intervention saying the tire management meant this has nothing to do with racing anymore Pirelli needed to take action both to fix the 2013 tires and to ensure there was no repeat for the in development 2014 rubber but given F1 had an in-season testing ban and Pirelli had no car of its own for track running this posed the problem so Pirelli decided the best course of action was to use a little publicized clause in its contra back to run a test using a current car and team so it set up a test with Mercedes and its race drivers the Clause end question was Article 4.2 of its F1 tire supply contract originally signed ahead of its return to F1 for the 2011 season this stated that Pirelli could conduct its own Tire testing with current competitors Pirelli needed a front-running car so approached Mercedes it also got permission from the FIA for the test sought-off we'll come back to that later so scheduled two days of running to take place after the Spanish Grand Prix This was later extended to three days from May the 15th to 17th because of rain at the test it racked up the allotted 1000 kilometers as always happens with Tire tests Mercedes had no knowledge of the exact tires it was testing at any given time and had to follow pirelli's run plan that was all in line with the contract so that's fine right well not quite because rival teams didn't hear about the test until after it happened in fact it only became known because it was mentioned in the Grand Prix Drivers Association meeting at Monaco to add to the suspicions Hamilton and rosberg wore unmarked black helmets to disguise their identity Mercedes later claimed this was because there were no security Personnel presence although Mercedes lawyer Paul Harris QC later accepted it looked suspicious with the benefits of hindsight given the circumstances it was no surprise that what had happened became very public when F1 convened for the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday morning at Monaco the world was looking forward to the race when the bombshell news dropped it was a story I had the privilege of a front row seat for in the Monaco Media Center that weekend because it was my then Autosport colleague F1 news hound Jonathan Noble who chased down and broke the news Ferrari and Red Bull in particular were Furious so it was no surprise that after the race won by rosberg the two teams lodged formal protests the protest wasn't targeting the results specifically but about the wider implications Red Bull team principal Christian Horner accused Mercedes of being underhand in participating in the test saying what is wrong is that a team in an underhand way consciously tested tires designed for this year's championship Broad and Mercedes denied it was a secret test and indicated it was down to Pirelli to inform other teams what's more Pirelli indicated the majority of the running was focused on 2014 Tire development even though there were some 2013 work and that was pretty much the argument the FIA stewards which included nine times Le Mans 24 hours winner Tom Christensen held three hearings in the first they heard from Red Bull and Ferrari and in a second Mercedes unusually Pirelli which was not a competitor and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the stewards was also summoned for a third hearing the simple version of the arguments is that Ferrari and Red Bull claimed they were not invited to the test as they should have been Mercedes said it was a Pirelli test and they had FIA permission to participate while Pirelli said it had operated in accordance with its Supply contract wisely the steward did not rule on this instead they compiled a report to be passed on for a potential FIA International tribunal hearing that could rule on the matter a hearing was duly convened for Thursday June 20th in Paris nobody disputed that the test happened but there were many questions to be answered in the international tribunal effectively a trial of pirellian Mercedes with a wide range of potential penalties many of which had possible Championship implications one of the first issues to resolve was whether Pirelli could be on trial at all it's argued it wasn't under the fia's jurisdiction that might have been true when it came to the F1 Technical and sporting regulations given it wasn't a competitor but it turned out Pirelli had signed up to be bound by the fia's international sporting code in its Supply contract the tribunal accepted that holding a tar test was permitted based on the terms of the Pirelli contract it was argued by rival teams with Red Bull Williams Ferrari McLaren and Marisha all making written contributions in advance of the hearing that the sporting regulations prohibited this however the tribunal accepted the contention from Mercedes that it did not run the test Pirelli did Mercedes made the argument that as it was a pirelli-run test it was therefore not a competitor in the championship conducting illegal testing so there was not necessarily a problem with the test happening both Pirelli and Mercedes argued they had FIA permission for the test and this is where things get messy it was established that Mercedes had twice consulted FIA race director Charlie Whiting initially through team sporting director Ron Meadows and later through Braun white and gave his opinion that the test complied with the regulations provided it was purely a tire test however he also indicated he would check with the fia's legal departments that led to an email exchange between Charlie Whiting and the Fia legal director Sebastian Bernard being submitted as evidence Whiting said that he believed this would be a Pirelli test and Bernard agreed however Bernard said that Pirelli Supply agreements meant that it needed to invite all competitors to participate in such tests and be able at any time to demonstrate that it has done so Whiting passed this on to Pirelli Motorsport director Paul Hembree according to the international tribunal verdict Hembree confirmed that all the teams would be given a similar opportunity to test and that he would confirm that all of the teams have been informed once that had been done however the tribunal concluded that it was Common Ground among all those involved that no other team was informed of the opportunity to carry out similar tests that no other team was even informed that the Barcelona test was contemplated and that no other competitor participated in or was present at this testing and that was a big problem pirelli's argument was that the test was necessary and in the best interest of Formula One however it said it was not feasible to have tested with more than one team if teams other than Mercedes have been involved the test would have served no purpose and that if all the teams were given the opportunity to participate in Tire testing it would have delayed it by months Pirelli also contended that it was not responsible for the car supplied by Mercedes a later specification 2013 machine and that the FIA had approved its use it's in Mercedes both argued no sporting Advantage was sought or gained they were also past examples of similar Pirelli tests including ones using Ferrari cars in 2012-13 without inviting other teams that were not considered in breach of the regulations however the FIA had concluded at the time of those tests that they were permitted as for example the 2013 Pirelli test conducted before the Spanish Grand Prix had used two-year-old Ferrari machinery the FIA consented in its written summary that the way the Mercedes test happened might constitute conduct prejudicial to the interests of the championship that was aimed both at Mercedes for participating and Pirelli by running the test but what really mattered were the conclusions of the Tribunal the tribunal accepted that the test was not carried out to gain any unfair sporting advantage and that neither Pirelli nor Mercedes acted in bad faith it's also accepted that pirellian Mercedes disclosed to the Fia at least the essence of what they intended to do in relation to the test and that Mercedes had no reason to believe approval had not been given it also concluded that whiting's actions were taken in good faith however it's also deemed that Mercedes breached article 22.4 h of the sporting regulations which banned in season testing it also found that while the FIA gave qualified approval neither Pirelli nor Mercedes satisfied the condition that all teams should be notified and given an opportunity to test and it was also concluded that the test wouldn't have happened had the FIA not issued the qualified approval it did it was judged that Mercedes did gain material advantage which potentially would lead to an unfair sporting Advantage this included reference to a confidential Trackside engineering report that was emailed to Mercedes by Pirelli and branded of confidential sensitivity which was proof that data was shared exclusively with it the key conclusion was that this meant both Mercedes and Pirelli breached the international sporting code notably article 151 that prevents acts prejudicial to the interest of the competition as a result Mercedes was hit with a ban from participating in the young driver test held at Silverstone later that season Pirelli was given a formal reprimand the costs of the investigation and hearing were also split three ways between Mercedes Pirelli and the FIA and Red Bull weren't happy with the decision given the tribunal had concluded that there was a sporting Advantage the feeling was that Mercedes being banned from the three-day young driver test was not severe enough Ferrari made its disappointment clear through its shadowy anonymized Horse Whisperer column which described it as perplexing to see that the guilty party got away virtually scot-free but there was a sting in the tail pirelli's Tire troubles continued coming to a head at Silverstone where Hamilton suffered a blowout while leading as a result Pirelli was given permission to revert to retire closer to the 2012 specification and it was decided to allow the teams to trial a new tire in the young driver test at Silverstone and that's the test Mercedes was banned from something Hamilton called unfair but the rivals will have seen as Poetic Justice Hamilton won the next race in Hungary anyway although Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel went on to dominate the second half of the season and win a championship that was turned acrimonious by the secrets Tire test controversy

Channel: THE RACE

Views: 272,561

Keywords: f1, formula 1, formula one, F1 news, F1 latest, F1 updates, F1 explained, The Race, the-race.com, grand prix, f1 2023, mercedes f1, mercedes f1 tyre test, tyre gate, tyregate, pirelli 1 testing scandal, fia, fia tribunal, f1 fines, f1 cheating, cheating f1, f1 penalty, ross brawn, toto wolff, lewis hamilton, nico rosberg, charlie whiting, wtf1, f1 history, f1 stories

Id: f7IXMvW0VCc

Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 16 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/AnilP228]

Ha, I remember this like it was yesterday.

I was at a wedding and about five of us were just refreshing our phones to keep up with the drama as the news broke.

I actually missed a family photo because I was too busy reading the BBC article.

[u/PayaV87]

It was a joke. They went from unable to stop eating tires to handling the tires the best.

[u/OldWiseMann]

The punishment was honestly such a slap on the wrist, while there was a very clear sporting gain from doing this. The ban they got was arguably less distance and with a young driver.

Mercedes have avoided harsh sanctions for breaking rules governing tests by using a current car to conduct a three-day, 1,000km tyre test at Pirelli’s request at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on 15-17 May.

Following a tribunal, Mercedes have been banned from this year’s young driver test that will take place at Silverstone on July 17-19 and reprimanded for its part in the affair dubbed “tyregate” while Pirelli has also been

[u/CilanEAmber]

Ferrari complaining about punishments being a slap on the wrist will never not be funny to me

[u/Schlachtfeld-21]

Not really on topic and definitely controversial, but the nose on the W04 is very beautiful. Such a pleasing line to look at.

[u/paigeotron]

This was way worse than Red Bulls cost cap breach.

[u/rakesh-69]

From now on I'm going to link this video when someone starts saying fia helped RB in 2013 with the tyre change. I have seen many new fans getting confused by the mid season tyre change saga. And why it is always a bad idea to change the construction of the tyre mid season. Unless there is a serious risk.

[u/Point4Golfer]

Silverstone was the biggest game changer in 2013. That race had multiple tyre blowouts and Pirelli were forced to change the tyres to a kevlar structure on grounds of safety which fell right into Red Bulls hands with Vettel winning something ridiculous like 9 out of the 10 remaining races of the season. Silverstone was about 2 or 3 races after the test Mercedes did. Any advantage they supposedly gained became null and void real quick.

I don't know what season some people were watching but Mercedes were garbage on the tyres in race trim for most of the season. Fast in qualifying but were nowhere near top tier on the tyres during the races.

[u/MadLuky6]

I remember this controversy like it was yesterday. For some reason, I still remember that Merc got much better with their tires since this test and started their domination in 2014. I wouldn't even mind saying this test shaped most of the next decade of F1.