Who will be the scapegoat - Mercedes or Pirelli?

Amidst all the furore about the secret test Mercedes conducted along with Pirelli at the Circuit de Catalunya just after the Spanish Grand Prix, things are becoming a bit hazy as to who has actually erred and why are the other teams protesting – whether it is for their own benefit or they want some penalty to be inflicted on Mercedes?

First of all, let’s get some things straight. Both Pirelli and Mercedes have transcended their respective contracts (Technical Regulations in case of Mercedes) – let us see exactly how.

Firstly, the FIA Technical Regulations state that in-season testing using the current year’s car is only possible in case of straight-line aerodynamic tests or Young Drivers’ tests – the Barcelona test was neither. Other kinds of in-season tests are also allowed but teams can participate in those with a car at least two years old - Mercedes were in breach of that rule by running a 2013 car, that too with their current race drivers. This shows that Mercedes flouted the regulations – case 1.

Now the case with Pirelli. In Pirelli’s contract with the FIA, it is stated that the tyre manufacturer is allowed to do a Barcelona-like test in-season with any team, provided all teams are notified and they agree to that. To justify that Pirelli didn’t break that rule, Paul Hembery has said that they had invited all the teams but some responded and others didn’t. But recently, some team bosses have said that they didn’t receive any such mail from Pirelli. Now, this statement has really put Pirelli in jeopardy and the situation is even more precarious because of no tyre deal for the 2014 season and beyond.

What do the FIA do now? Initially, both Mercedes and Pirelli said that they had taken permission from the governing body before conducting the test. But after the protests from Red Bull and Ferrari, FIA has defended itself by lashing out at both Mercedes and Pirelli, stating that they hadn’t given complete information – regarding running the current car and all that.

We all know, from the history of the sport, that the FIA likes to assert its authority whenever possible and this might be yet another occasion. But who will lose the most if serious sanctions are indicted on one of/both the culprits? One thing we need to keep in mind is that Pirelli is an external supplier and is not bound by the regulations like the teams. So the highest penalty is not awarding them a 2014 contract. Mercedes, though, are in deeper trouble because, as the FIA has threatened to take the matter to the International Tribunal, the team may face something very serious, such as exclusion from the Constructors’ Championship – it is not very uncommon in the sport, as not very long ago such a penalty was handed out and the team at the receiving end then was McLaren.

Does the sport get affected very heavily by any of these decisions? Definitely. Let’s analyse them one by one. If Pirelli are not awarded a 2014 contract, F1 will be without a tyre supplier with only 7 months to go before winter testing begins (given that, next year there might be an extra test for the new power units). That is a huge crisis – it is very unfair to expect from a new supplier – even if they are Bridgestone or Michelin – to build tyres for completely different cars with no past data whatsoever (related to power delivery, effect of aerodynamics due to the new turbos, etc.) to rely on. Also, we can’t expect FIA to allow another special tyre test given the aim of cost-cutting. Ironically though, the introduction of the new power units have taken the sport in the completely opposite direction which McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh quite adeptly termed as an “own goal”.

Who will lose out- Mercedes or Pirelli?

Next comes an exclusion for Mercedes. That might have even bigger repurcussions given the team’s excellent brand image over the world as a manufacturer. After the departure of big names such as BMW, Honda and Toyota in recent years, F1 can’t afford the loss of another one. With the Mercedes board already not happy with the team’s performances over the last few years, this kind of a humiliation would be the perfect trigger for making the decision of leaving the sport an easy one.

Both ways, the sport will be in a bit of bother and amongst all the uncertainty about the unsigned Concorde Agreement, cost-cutting and huge costs of the new engines causing major financial headaches for the smaller teams, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone wouldn’t want another problem to deal with.

That brings us to the question – what if the FIA doesn’t punish either of Mercedes or Pirelli? We can understand the reason behind the protests of Red Bull and Ferrari – with them having the two largest budgets in the sport, they are dying to carry out these kinds of on-track tests. Inflicting a penalty on Mercedes isn’t much of a worry to them – at the moment – because the Mercedes drivers haven’t been troubling the scorers with big points in recent races, until Monaco of course. But if they are able to continue their Saturday pace into the Sundays, then it will be a completely different matter altogether. To prevent that from happening, Pirelli have already taken a step back by announcing that the newer construction tyres will not be raced before Silverstone – why have they extended it till Silverstone? Simple. There is a three-week gap between the Canadian and the British Grands Prix and the FIA’s decision regarding the ‘secret’ test is expected before that. But what if Mercedes suddenly have excellent tyre degradation and romp away to victories? Then the whole season could be labelled as a farce.

Some intriguing weeks to look forward to then, with quite a bit of nail-biting expected to go on! The main question – who will be made the scapegoat? Only time will tell.