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The FIA has confirmed that the Mercedes testing case will go before the International Tribunal.

However no further action will be taken with regard to Ferrari, as the FIA deemed that no regulations have been broken.

The governing body has been gathering evidence from the various parties, including other teams – who were asked if they had been invited tthe Barcelona test.

The full  statement read as follows:

The Monaco Grand Prix Stewards raised in their report to the FIA an issue concerning a tyre testing session carried out by Pirelli with the participation of Team Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 in Barcelona on 15-17 May 2013 (1).

The FIA requested clarifications from Pirelli and Team Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 in this respect.

The FIA also asked questions to Scuderia Ferrari Team, which took part in a tyre testing with Pirelli in Barcelona on 23-24 April 2013.

The FIA requested all the other F1 Teams to provide the FIA with information they may have regarding any tests carried out by Pirelli during the 2013 season.

In the light of all the replies received and in view of the information gathered during this inquiry, the President of the FIA, acting as the FIA prosecuting body, has decided:

• To close the case as regard to Scuderia Ferrari Team considering that its participation in a tyre testing organized by Pirelli in Barcelona on 23-24 April 2013 using for this purpose a 2011 car is not deemed to contravene the applicable FIA rules.

• To bring the case concerning the tyre testing session carried out by Pirelli and Team Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 in Barcelona on 15-17 May 2013 before the FIA International Tribunal because it results from the inquiry that the conditions of this testing may constitute a breach of the applicable FIA rules.

The FIA International Tribunal is called upon to make a decision in compliance with the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules.

Button had a good weekend in Monaco. Photo: AC

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael says that the Monaco GP showed that the team is making progress with the difficult MP4-28.

Jenson Button finished sixth in the principality, beating Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

“At least the bits are starting to work, and it’s all in the right direction,” Michael told this writer. “That’s main thing, just to see progress, and we’ve definitely seen that. Montreal is obviously a very different track, and you can overtake a lot easier.”

Michael said that McLaren should have beaten Adrian Sutil to fifth place in Monaco.

“Jenson drove in a mature way again, but it’s all about expectation, isn’t it? We could have done better. We should have been fifth and sixth on the road. We weren’t as quick as Mercedes and Red Bull, but we were definitely the best of the rest, and we should have done that over the course of the weekend, At least the car is getting better, that’s the important thing.”

Meanwhile regarding Sergio Perez’s spectacular afternoon – which ended soon after a collision with Kimi Raikkonen, he said: “Sergio had a good race, up until that point. He obviously attacked really hard and made good moves on JB and Fernando. Then obviously been himself and Kimi, he pushed a bit hard. They already had an incident where he went straight on and later they came together.

“He stopped with a brake problem because brake temperatures went through the roof after that crash with Kimi. He lost the brake pedal, which is why you saw it twitching. He tried to make it into the pitlane, but it was so busy he baled, and just parked it out there. He was just in survival mode. If he’d done a pit stop he would have come out 16th. It was stay out there and hope you can do a few more laps, or DNF.”

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali says that his team is ready to bounce back in Canada after a frustrating weekend in Monaco saw Fernando Alonso manage only seventh place.

The team has also built up a new chassis after Felipe Massa’s heavy race crash, which was his second of the Monaco weekend.

“The Monaco GP was not an easy weekend for the team,” Domenicali said on the Ferrari website. “Since then, we have been working hard, first of all studying all the data to see why we had not performed as expected. And from that point, we have been looking ahead, setting up the cars in the completely different configuration required of Montreal, as we go from the highest downforce track of the year to the one where we will use the least downforce of any track we have visited so far this season.

“Of course we also focussed on the problems we had with reliability, which absolutely had to be resolved. What is sure is that the team is completely motivated and we are determined to regard what happened in Monaco as an isolated incident.”

Summing up the season so far, Domenicali said: “Looking at the first six races overall, our car has proved to be strong with very good characteristics in the majority of cases, even if, at times, other teams have proved to be faster.

“I think the Montreal circuit should allow us to exploit those strong points such as braking, which is a key factor at this track, so let’s hope that works in our favour. However, on the other hand, we must ensure we keep working on the areas where our car is not yet where it should be.”

Heikki Kovalainen has parted company with his erstwhile management company, IMG. The Finn is currently looking after his own affairs as he starts his search for an F1 race seat for 2014.

While Kovalainen was ultimately forced out of Caterham this year for commercial reasons, team principal Tony Fernandes made it clear to the media that he’d found it difficult to deal with IMG, a company that – while involved in F1 on and off since the days of Jackie Stewart – seemingly lacked knowledge of the nuances of how the sport operates.

“I’m not with IMG anymore,” said Kovalainen when asked by this blog about his future plans. “I can confirm that, but I’ve agreed not to talk about it any further than that.

“I’m working on my own now, but right now there are no discussions with anybody else. I’m just focussing on working with Caterham and trying to help the team to move forward this year.”

Kovalainen has completed two FP1 sessions with Caterham this year, which has at least ensured that he has knowledge of 2013 tyres, and is thus in a position to to step in should any team need a driver at short notice.

A statement from the FIA tonight confirms that Scuderia Ferrari has now been brought into the investigation into the Mercedes Pirelli test.

As outlined here earlier this week, Ferrari took part in a test in April with a 2011 car – although when questioned in a teleconference today Paul Hembery declined to name the Italian team, saying that the matter was confidential.

The FIA confirmed that both teams have been invited to reply to a disciplinary enquiry.

The statement said: “The FIA  has asked Team Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 and Scuderia Ferrari Team which have taken part in tyre tests in the 2013 season to reply to a disciplinary inquiry in pursuance of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules.

Red Bull has followed up its protest against Mercedes by reminding the FIA that it is the obligation of the teams to ensure that they comply with the regulations.

Pirelli has justified the test via a contract it has with the FIA which makes provision for 1000kms of extra testing with teams. However that is inevitably trumped by the requirement to obey the FIA’s own regulations.

In a letter sent yesterday by Christian Horner to the FIA – and copied to all the other teams and seen by this blog – the team makes clear how seriously it views the situation.

Horner wrote: “For clarity our protest is not against any third party supplier (including the tyre supplier) as it is the clear obligation of the entrant, irrelevant of any supplier contract, to comply with the Sporting and Technical Regulations, which in this case were clearly breached.

“For any competitor to have the benefit of running a current car with current race drivers with tyres that are to be used in the current World Championship is an enormous and unfair advantage for both performance and reliability and in our opinion totally unacceptable.”

Today Pirelli insisted that most of the Mercedes running was devoted to 2014 tyre development, despite Paul Hembery saying in Monaco last week that testing with a current car would be “pointless.”

Hembery said today that only a small period involved Kevlar belted tyres, similar to those that will be tested in Montreal and potentially raced at Silverstone. However, he insisted that it did not involve a 2013 compound.

Nevertheless rivals agree that, whatever tyres were used, Mercedes would have gained a lot from the test.

Pirelli has responded to criticism by issuing the following statement immediately ahead of a phone conference call. Here’s their view in full:

Pirelli, in development testing with teams carried out in 2013, has not favoured any teams and, as always, acted professionally, with transparency and in absolute good faith. The tyres used were not from the current championship but belonged to a range of products still being developed in view of an eventual renewal of the supply contract. Further, none of the tests were carried for the purpose of enhancing specific cars, but only to test tyre solutions for future championships. The use of the car utilized by Mercedes, in particular, was the result of direct communication between FIA and the team itself. Pirelli did not ask in any way that a 2013 car be used: not of Mercedes nor FIA nor the teams which, during the year, were offered the opportunity of participating in tests for the development of tyres for 2014. The tyres that will be tested by the teams in the free practice at the Montreal Grand Prix have never been used by the teams before.  With regard to the new tyres, the problem of delamination has been solved by Pirelli’s technicians exclusively through laboratory testing. Delamination, which only occurred on four occasions and always because of on-track detritus, has never put the drivers’ safety at risk, but does risk harming Pirelli’s image. This is why the company decided to intervene.  

With regard to the rules which govern its conduct, the company has always respected the contractual limits which bind it to the FIA, teams and championship’s organizers, and has always respected the principles of sporting loyalty.

Pirelli, however, feels the need to reaffirm the indisputable need to carry out tests for the development of tyres which are adequate and regulated by rules which are clear and shared by all the interested parties. The company confirms its availability, as communicated to the teams many times in the past, to organize tests for the development of tyres for 2014 with all the teams in the championship.

 PIRELLI’S ANSWERS TO FIA

With regard to requests for information received from FIA, Pirelli promptly provided the answers needed to clarify what happened at the tests, as far as its own responsibilities went.

 DEVELOPMENT TESTS FOR 2014 TYRES WERE OFFERED TO ALL:  NO FAVOURTISM

The tests were conducted in observance of the contract between Pirelli and FIA, which gives the supplier the possibility of carrying out tests for the development of tyres with each team of up to 1,000 kilometres, without specifying the type of car to be used, nor sanctioning the simultaneous presence of all the teams for the running of the tests. In this regard, Pirelli has since 2010 made it clear that it is neither possible nor useful to carry out this type of test with all the teams simultaneously.  In fact, this type of testing aimed at technological development and researching new solutions, involves many tyres of different types which must be tested with a single car at a time. Testing for championship specifications is different, as occurs in winter testing which require the participation of all the teams, so as to find the most satisfying solutions for all the cars in the competition. For this reason, Pirelli insists on the need for winter testing under conditions which are truly representative of the situations which will be met during the championship.

 Already in March 2012, Pirelli sent an email to all the teams, Fia and Fom, inviting the teams to indicate their availability for testing for the development of tyres for 2013. Further, the company explained that it was necessary to conduct the tests with the teams’ cars because it did not have a suitable one of its own (Pirelli has the use of an adapted 2010 Renault and, before that, a 2009 Toyota).

The invitation was subsequently repeated in various official contexts and repeated to some teams last March for the development of tyres for 2014.

 THE TEST CONDUCTED IN BARCELONA WAS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TYRES FOR 2014 AND NOT FOR THE MODIFICATION OF 2013 SPECIFICATIONS

This test, as always, carried out with a single compound never used in a championship, regarded structures not in use in the current season and not destined to be used later during the 2013 season. The tyre tests were conducted “in the dark”, which means that the teams had no information on which specifications were being tested or about the goal of the testing; nor did they receive any type of information afterwards.

Further, the tests did not regard delamination in any way, as that problem was dealt with and resolved by Pirelli’s technicians through laboratory tests, with the support of data gathered during the first races of the season. 

Pirelli always asked for representative cars, that is, with performances comparable to those of the cars being used in the championship underway, without ever referring to those effectively used in the 2013 races.

The “2013 MERCEDES” At BARCELONA WAS THE SUBJECT OF DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN THE TEAM AND FIA. PIRELLI MADE NO REQUESTS AND HAD NO WAY OF KNOWIING IF RULES WERE BEING VIOLATED

The Barcelona test was conducted in cooperation with Mercedes between May 15 and May 17, 2013. The teams made available one car and two first tier drivers, who alternated at the wheel on different days.

The trials were done with a base compound, not in use this year, and 12 different structures which had never been used in 2013, only one of which with kevlar.

The team did not obtain any advantage with regard to knowledge of the behaviour of the tyres in use in the current championship.

The type of car used during the tests was the subject of direct discussions between Mercedes and FIA, as shown in the exchange of emails between the team and Pirelli. In particular, Mercedes informed Pirelli that its 2011 car could not be used and that it had already contacted Fia regarding the use of the 2013 car. There is no doubt that the questions relating to the vehicle were the exclusive domain of the team and that Pirelli was excluded from these questions (notwithstanding Pirelli’s need, from a technical point of view, to have a representative car in terms of impact on the performance of the tyres).

 To confirm that this was an ordinary development test and not aimed at specific interventions, Pirelli made no specific requests about the drivers or about the tye of Mercedes staff that would be present during the tests and had fielded its normal team for development testing.

EXPERIMENTAL TYRES FOR THE CANADA GP NEVER USED BEFORE

The tyres with the new structures in kevlar which will be given to the teams during the free practice at the Montreal Grand Prix will for the first time be track tested, following laboratory development. The new tyres have overcome the problem of delamination. This phenomenon in no manner compromises the drivers’ safety but risks damaging the company’s image. At the Canada tests, the teams will have the opportunity to express their opinions and make observations.

 NO CHANGE TO THE “DURATION” OF THE TYRES

Pirelli, ready as it is to make changes at any moment, has made no modifications that effect the duration of the tyres and, consequently, on the number of pit stops during the race because of a lack of unanimity of the part of the teams.

While we wait for Jean Todt to decide whether or not the case against Mercedes is passed on the International Tribunal, Pirelli could also find itself in serious trouble with the FIA over the affair.

Pirelli is not a competitor and can thus not be sanctioned through the normal FIA channels. However, there is an alternative scenario. Crucially, as a sole supplier Pirelli has a contractual obligation with the FIA to guarantee ‘sporting equity’ – and if the FIA ultimately deems that that this has not been the case, then it could in theory take legal action.

Understandably the FIA may be reluctant to follow such a course, but if Pirelli is deemed to have not fulfilled its contractual obligations one could speculate that the Italian company’s bid to retain its role as sole supplier from 2014 could be weakened.

That would leave the door open for Michelin to bid for the tender for the new F1 contract, although as the FIA’s tender system makes clear, any new supplier would have course first have to conclude a commercial deal with Bernie Ecclestone, for trackside advertising and so on.

Clearly Pirelli will be now be called to account to the FIA for how it behaved over the decision to run the Mercedes test, and then to subsequently keep quiet about it – and as Jean Todt has confirmed, the FIA submitted questions to Pirelli earlier this week, and is expecting answers by today.

Meanwhile some evidence of how Pirelli may struggle to prove that it has maintained its usual standards of sporting equity in the Mercedes case is provided by an intriguing document seen by this blog.

It concerns how Pirelli usually conducts its regular development testing with the 2010 Renault/Lotus chassis, as driven by the likes of Pirelli test drivers Lucas di Grassi and Jaime Alguersuari.

The contents underline the huge contrast with how the Barcelona Mercedes test was run, in total secrecy and with the regular team and drivers involved. It also poses a few questions about Ferrari’s late April Pirelli test in Barcelona, run somewhat less contentiously with the 2011 car – and thus within the sporting regulations – but without the knowledge of rivals.

The letter, written to all the teams on April 27^th 2012, shows the lengths that Pirelli went to in order to ensure that Lotus F1 gained no advantage from the testing, something that rivals were concerned about when a car from a current team was chosen to replace the outdated 2009 Toyota.

After lengthy debate all the teams – including Mercedes and Ferrari – agreed that a Renault/Lotus was a good compromise. At the time the ex-Kubica/Petrov car was a midfield challenger rather than title contender, but one fast enough with which to conduct representative testing. Clearly Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes did not want one of their established immediate rivals to conduct the testing, so paranoid were they about the opportunity providing a possible advantage.

Pirelli went to considerable trouble to demonstrate to teams that it would ensure that Lotus gained no benefit.

The letter stresses that the car is run by the Lotus show car team – who usually take part in demos and street events – and emphasises that no data from a test is passed to the main race team.

It also goes to great lengths to stress that key tyre data is handled not by Lotus but passed direct to Pirelli via an independent infra-red camera system run by a German company called RennWerk Gmbh, set up by former Toyota employees.

Pirelli even includes a diagram to illustrate the flow of data, and demonstrate how the Italian company and RennWerk control it, with Lotus given access to what the engineers require to be able to run the car. But special software means that even the data that Lotus works with cannot be accessed “outside the specified test events” thanks to the way it uses a data system called Atlas, which is provided by McLaren Electronics.

Crucially Pirelli gives the dates of the planned 2012 tests in Jerez, Spa, Monza and Barcelona, and offers an invitation to teams to send representatives to observe any test.

The conditions are that that are only allowed to talk to one Pirelli representative, and are not allowed inside the garage, but every effort is made to make them feel welcome – even the provision of wi-fi, somewhere to work, and a free lunch…

Pirelli also confirms that it will send a report by email, outlining the results of the test, no earlier than a week after it concludes.

Pirelli told the teams: “As already anticipated, we are happy to have one representative from each Team attending our development tests. We need to know the name of the person no later than one week before the beginning of each Test, to guarantee their access at the circuit.

“We kindly ask you to understand that the level of confidentiality during a development test is very high, and we are obliged to define clear rules for the attendance, I hope you appreciate this. We will share a run plan in the morning of each test day and we will keep representatives updated with a short briefing during the lunch break (if planned) and at the end of each test day. We will communicate the timetable of the briefing in due time.

“The briefing will be managed by our F1 Team Coordinator, Massimiliano Damiani, and no other people involved in the test from Pirelli, Lotus, Renault, Rennwerk or McLaren Electronics will be authorized to speak with anybody unless specifically decided by Pirelli.

“Our test drivers are not authorized to speak with Teams’ representatives and Teams’ representatives won’t be equipped with radios. The plan is decided by Pirelli at its sole discretion and can be modified only by Pirelli test coordinator.

“After each test we will supply a short report to summarize the results achieved. This short report will be sent by email not earlier than one week after the end of the test, when we have completed all our analysis.

No telemetry data will be shared with the Teams’ representatives.”

In further emphasising that Lotus does not gain any advantage, Pirelli told the teams:

“They will do a normal “reliability” debrief with the driver at the end of each day but they will not be involved in the results and findings from the test, so this part of the debrief should be done exclusively by the Pirelli Race Engineer with the driver.

“They will not participate in any kind of post analysis of the data.

“They will not know tyre compound or construction in the Runplan unless it has a consequence on ride heights.

“They will send us a basic pre-event analysis containing fuel effect, expected laptime and base setup.

“At the end of each day, they will send us the Runsheet containing laptime, driver comments and setup changes.”

Pirelli goes to great lengths to show that the data cannot be used by Lotus.

“LOTUS is running usual data processing during the event (vTAG). RENNWERK is monitoring the data processing to avoid unwanted data generation

“LOTUS cannot export any data due to specific ATLAS licenses with data export functions disabled

“The only exception is the generation of statistics for safe running of the car and lifing purposes. RENNWERK is monitoring these exports to avoid unwanted data generation and export.

“Apart from the above exception, PIRELLI is the only user to be able to export and transfer data out of the LOTUS Show Car Team Network

“All data are retained inside the LOTUS Show Car Team Network

“Mechanisms like encrypted hard discs, locked USB ports and monitoring of network traffic are installed to prevent unwanted data removal

“Usage of PIRELLI owned ATLAS licenses ensures that data cannot be accessed outside the specified test events

“RENNWERK will monitor licence usage and data security mechanisms during the events

Given the above provisions it’s perhaps not surprising that rivals were somewhat taken aback when news of the Mercedes test emerged, and indeed the Ferrari session, even if it was conducted with an old car.

The other teams were not told it was happening, they were not invited to attend as observers, and they have yet to receive any reports about either the Ferrari or Mercedes tests, in apparent contradiction of Pirelli’s usual policy, as outlined above.

The crucial question however is did Pirelli and its partner Rennwerk follow in detail the above data security provisions when running the Ferrari and Mercedes tests? The provisions that Pirelli clearly worked so hard on because they (and all the teams) knew exactly how Lotus or anyone else could benefit by participating in a tyre test, even with an old car.

Questioned by this blog, spokesmen from both Mercedes and Ferrari stressed that it was a Pirelli test and thus they were not willing or not able to make any comment about how the tests were run, and thus not in a position to confirm that the same standards were applied, or that RennWerk was involved in monitoring the data. However, both did stress that the teams were not told what tyres Pirelli was putting on the car.

I also asked Pirelli whether the recent tests were conducted under similar conditions to the usual Renault/Lotus testing, specifically with regard to the involvement of RennWerk in controlling the flow of data.

A Pirelli spokesperson told me: “Apart from the comments Paul has already given you on the recent events, we have nothing further to add for the time being as it is company policy not to give any details about our R&D programme to the media.”

However it is due to hold a press conference today.

As noted, the FIA has asked Pirelli some questions – it will be interesting to see what the next step is…