Mercedes AMG and Pirelli will face the FIA International Tribunal on 20 June over charges of conducting a secret in-season test. The hearing will take place in Paris at 9:30am local time and the decision will be made public as soon as possible.
You can read the full statement from the FIA after the break.
Back whenever it was that the FIA started to interview the drivers on the podium after each race (2012 British Grand Prix) we thought it was a clumsy approach. To be fair, there were some teething problems and it did get better. It’s true, also, that fans at the track probably deserve to hear from the drivers they have paid, in many cases, several hundred dollars to watch.
And yet, when you read the transcript below, you won’t really get too much of a clue that all the while during Eddie Jordan’s interview with Sebastian Vettel the German was being booed while Fernando Alonso was being cheered along.
To be fair, the transcript does read a little odd and Jordan seems to cut-off Vettel. In fact he did cut-off the race winner mid-sentence partly to stop the jeering from the crowd we suspect. It was a bad look all around and perhaps the FIA may have cause to reconsider the practice of on-track interviews.
For now, we expect the status quo will remain, as it probably should, but as much as we dislike Vettel at times, he deserved better than the Canadian crowd gave him.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
As we touched on in our race report a marshal was killed in this morning’s Canadian Grand Prix. We know of at least two AUSmotive readers who continue to work trackside at Formula 1 races and it really brings it home that there are real dangers involved in this type of work. We hate hearing news like this and we hope we never have to report on such news again.
This is the full statement from the FIA:
Mon 10.06.13, 1:01AM
The FIA is sad to announce the death of a Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada circuit worker, at 6:02 pm.
The worker, a member of the Automobile Club de l’Île Notre Dame, was the victim of an unfortunate accident that occurred at the end of this afternoon’s Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada. The worker was helping to recover a car which had stopped during the race. The recovery vehicle had lifted the car to return it to the pits and while doing this the worker dropped his radio and attempted to pick it up. As he did this, he stumbled and was hit and run over by the recovery vehicle.
The worker was transported via helicopter to Sacre-Coeur Hospital where he was treated by the traumatology department of Dr Ronald Denis, Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Dr Jacques Bouchard, Chief Medical Officer of the Grand Prix. Unfortunately, the worker succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
The FIA, l’Automobile Club de l’Île Notre-Dame and the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada want to communicate their deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim. The identity of the worker cannot be revealed at this time.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
The Sebastian Vettel–Red Bull dominance of recent years was captured perfectly at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, as the three-time world champion converted his 39th career pole position into his 29th career victory.
Vettel wasn’t troubled during the 70 lap race and the 14.4 second margin back to Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) in second place flatters the rest of the field. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) rounded out the top three.
Mark Webber (Red Bull) flirted with the podium positions for much of the race, despite minor front wing damage suffered on lap 37 in a collision with Giedo van der Garde (Caterham). Webber was not pleased with van der Garde’s actions either, slamming the 28-year-old as a “a pay driver with no mirrors”.
“I got a sensational start, but I didn’t have too many places to go,” said Webber.”We lost some time with Nico in the first stint, and the car was getting hot behind him in the slip stream. Once I got in free air, the car was handling much better. Then we had the incident with Giedo van der Garde which caused some front wing damage and made it more difficult; the whole top section of the wing was gone on the left hand side, so it didn’t help from then on. I don’t know what he was doing.
“There were some positives from today, but it would have been nicer to have finished a bit further up the road.â€
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) finished fifth, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) who finished a career-best sixth.
Daniel Ricciardo was well behind his Toro Rosso teammate and could only manage P15. “I got a really good start, making up two positions off the line,” said Ricciardo afterwards. “I felt we could have a good race, but after just four laps, the car was oversteering like crazy and I couldn’t manage the tyres anymore. As the race went on, we tried to improve the car balance and maybe we improved it a bit, but our pace was really slow.
“We didn’t change so much on the car since Friday, so why we were so slow is a mystery to me at the moment.â€
Both McLaren drivers finished outside of the points in P11 and P12, ending McLaren’s 64-race run of at least one car scoring championship points.
In awful post-race news it emerged that a marshal was killed in a terrible accident with a crane removing Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber. The marshal slipped while out of sight of the crane driver and was run over. He was rushed to hospital and passed away last night. Our thoughts are with his family and colleagues.
[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Rain and a red flag couldn’t stop Sebastian Vettel from claiming his 39th career pole position overnight. The Red Bull driver set the fastest time (1:25.425) at the Canadian Grand Prix and will start ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, 1:25.512).
Next is a surprise result for Valtteri Bottas (Williams, 1:25.512), who will start from P3, easily the best qualifying position in his short F1 career. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes, 1:25.512) may have started the last three grands prix from pole, but the best the Monaco Grand Prix winner could manage was fourth.
Mark Webber (Red Bull, 1:25.512) will line up on the third row of the grid in P5, with Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:25.512) alongside from P6.
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso, 1:27.946) outqualified his teammate Daniel Ricciardo (1:27.946) and it’s the first time this year both made it into Q3. Vergne will start from P7 and Ricciardo qualified tenth but will start from P11 (see below).
Felipe Massa again found trouble in qualifying, following up his crash at Monaco with another barrier-finding moment here in Canada. That brought out a red flag in Q2 with just under two minutes left to run. When the track re-opened all the remaining cars lined up in pit lane to chase entry into Q3.
Several drivers were side-by-side in pit lane, leaving some drivers outside the designated fast lane, which is not strictly allowed. However, only Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) and Daniel Ricciardo were penalised. Both were given two-spot penalties and will now start from P10 and P11 respectively. In a quirk of process both drivers only move back one grid place, as explained by the FIA.
Hats off to F1 fan Patrick Viola for this livery concept he has created for the return of the McLaren-Honda partnership in 2015.
We can’t say we’re really expecting to see a Marlboro-inspired livery to return to F1 tracks, but as far as fan creations go this one looks pretty good.
[Source: wtf1 | Thanks to Ryan for the tip]
The FIA has handed down its findings over the Pirelli tyre test controversy and Mercedes continues to find itself in hot water. They’ve been ordered to face the FIA International Tribunal because their test undertaken with Pirelli “may constitute a breach of the applicable FIA rules”.
Ferarri, who was also asked to explain its own secret test with Pirelli, has been cleared of any wrongdoing on account of using a 2011-spec car.
You can read the full statement from the FIA after the break.
The International Tribunal consists of a 12-person panel which, according to official statutes, “operates totally independently from the other bodies of the FIA and the members of the FIA.”
In regards to the penalties the International Tribunal can impose, Autosport has an article on the matter which reads in part:
The IT’s punishments are limited to fines, bans or the alternative sanctions laid out in the International Sporting Code (ISC).
The ISC says available sanctions are listed in the order of severity: reprimand, fines, obligation to accomplish some work of public interest, time penalty, exclusion, suspension or disqualification.
Adam Cooper has garnered more information on the Pirelli-Mercedes “secret” tyre test. We suggest you take a read. Here’s a snippet to start with:
“Some people have described the test as secret,†said Hembery on Friday. “Well, I don’t think we would have won any James Bond prizes, because we booked the circuit in our name, two days after an F1 race.”
…
So why the excessive security measures? Why stop members of the public from observing from outside the venue, never mind wandering around the spectator areas, enjoying the chance to see the car that was on pole a few days before?
[Source: Adam Cooper F1 | Pic: Mercedes AMG]
Overnight the FIA issued the following statement in regards to the secret Formula 1 Pirelli tyre tests:
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.
This follows the Stewards’ Report from the Monaco Grand Prix and represents supplementary information required by the FIA in the light of the replies received from Pirelli, who were asked for clarifications on Tuesday May 28th.
Mercedes we all knew about, they have allegedly used a 2013-spec car in their test with Pirelli and, in theory, that’s a clear cut breach of the sporting regulations.
Ferrari, however, will be very surprised, we suspect, to be asked to explain their participation with Pirelli. It’s been reported they used a 2011-spec car provided by their Corse Clienti program, which is independent from the F1 team.
Using a two-year-old car has been understood by the teams to be acceptable. Although, the regulations define acceptable cars as being “substantially different” from the 2013 specifications. It would seem then that the concern for Ferrari will be: is the 2011 F150 Italia different enough from the 2013 F138?
Lawyers at 10 paces everyone!
In the wake of the Mercedes secret tyre test controversy it has emerged that Ferrari has also taken part in private test at the request of Pirelli.
The test took place this year between the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix. Crucially, though, a 2011-spec car was used which had been provided by Ferrari’s Corse Clienti program and not their Formula 1 team. Therefore, Ferrari has not breached any FIA sporting regulations.
“For a bit more of a year there has been a possibility of performing these so-called 1,000 kms tests that Pirelli does for its own tyre development,†a Ferrari spokesman told Speed. “For Ferrari it has always been very clear that these tests could not make use of a 2013 car. In terms of running an old car, the matter is quite irrelevant, because it is totally within the rules.
“This is something that we have never denied; this was very transparent. All the teams have this possibility. The tyres, the specification of the test, is something that Pirelli knows; not us.â€
Previously Pirelli had conducted its testing using a 2010-spec Renault under the watch of the Lotus show car program. It had always kept the teams abreast of its activities, including the distribution of official reports after each test that, in part, confirmed Lotus would not gain any advantage.
Why they have now started going down this secretive test regime with Ferrari and Mercedes, without notifying the other teams is yet to be identified.
[Source: Speed TV | Pic: Ferrari]
Prior to and after each Formula 1 race Pirelli shares a bunch of information regarding tyre selection and pit stops. You may be aware of this already, but if you’re not here’s what they produced from the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Williams F1 Team has announced today that their “long-term” deal with Renault will not extend into 2014. Instead they have signed a new “long-term” deal with Mercedes-Benz.
“I’m delighted to announce our new association with Mercedes-Benz for the 2014 Formula One season and beyond,” Team Principal Sir Frank Williams said. “Mercedes-Benz has been one of the sport’s most successful engine suppliers and we believe that they will have an extremely competitive engine package.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Renault for their continued hard work since we renewed our engine partnership at the beginning of the 2012 season. We have enjoyed a strong relationship that has resulted in much success over the years, including powering us to winning ways once again last year at the Spanish Grand Prix.â€
Looks like we won’t see the rebirth of the Renault Clio Williams after all. And Williams-Renaults racing McLaren-Hondas would have rekindled fond memories for those of us over 35 too. Life marches on.
Indeed the new engines, which we must call power units, on account of their greater reliance on Energy Recovery Systems, will take Formula 1 in a new direction next year. It will be fascinating to see how they sound, how they perform and how reliable they are.