The FIA Press Conference on Friday in Montreal was a fairly dull affair with little of value being said. However the one significant point was a remark made by Ross Brawn that hints that there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. Let us not forget that Ross Brawn has been rumoured for some months to be a man in the hot seat with rumours that he on the verge of being edged out by Mercedes. Thus it is entirely illogical for Ross to put himself in the firing line. So why did he say the following: “Let’s wait and see what the Tribunal finds and then we can go from there. It was my decision to do the test so that’s a fact and let’s see what occurs at Tribunal.”
Unless Ross has become suicidal in his more mature years or he must no something that guarantees that he is not in trouble at the Tribunal. You do not throw yourself on the bonfire for no reason…
And Ross is anything but naive so even if there was only a small percentage of chance that he would run into trouble he would not have said what he said. He must KNOW.
joeblogsf1 
The thing I admire about Ross Brawn is that he is not afraid to lead from the front. No weaselling with words or hiding in motorhomes. You saw the contrast between him and other team principals in stark relief in an earlier race this season. While Christian Horner pleaded with Sebastian Vettel to obey orders, Brawn bluntly told his drivers to hold position. Leadership vs. pussyfooting. I agree, Ross knows something a lot of us don’t (yet).
I hope Ross hasn’t been encouraged to become a scapegoat for Mercedes or hasn’t gone down the “Walter White” route of self destruction. My guess (not having any of the facts) is that Ross has interpreted the rules better than any of the other teams, this wouldn’t be the first time as the same sort of thing happened in the Benneton and Ferrari days. Thoughts Joe?
Wassa matter? Why all this coverage of storms in tea cups? Thought only Adam Cooper wrote on topics that didn’t earn any money, while the more industrious journalists went about covering the more important stuff. And on a GP weekend at that!
You are very welcome to go and read other stuff if you think that it is better. Just don’t whine before leaving.
It takes years and years of experience to be able to read between the lines and the F1 double speak. Hence why we read closely what Joe has to say.
But surely the exact opposite is also a possibility, Ross is on his way out of F1 entirely (perhaps joining with Newey and Gascoigne in a new version of 3 men in a boat) so in order to save the team, being of stout British upper lip, he will take the fall; thus neutralising any Merc penalty.
Interesting that Paul Hembury was advised by Pirelli lawyers not to attend the press conference. The dollar signs in lawyers eyes will be lighting in anticipation at the forthcoming tribunal, where full legal representation will be allowed. I wonder if Todt will be wielding his own sword, since he is allowed a second. With the whole panel being highly paid lawyers, (the president a QC) plus heavy guns on both sides, the costs are going to fairly rocket upwards.
Much wiser people then he have said dumber things under the stress of fire and brimstone hurled at them.
I hope your observation is correct Joe, but it sounds like he is denying right up until the firing squad pulls the trigger.
The storm is threatening to spill out of the tea cup. Why so much talk from the Mercedes camp? When a matter is sub-judice people are required to keep shtum, but evidently not in F1.
My hunch is that Charlie Whiting or some other FIA middle man could be the one the FIA is after. Maybe Mercedes didn’t ask Jean Todt or the FIA headquarters whether they can go ahead with the test but asked Whiting instead. If he gave the green light for the test, maybe Todt isn’t best pleased about that and maybe Todt is happy to have a reason to oust some of Ecclestone’s old cronies, thus cementing his authority versus FOM’s influence.
If Charlie Whiting was to be held accountable then they have to notice him that he is part of the hearing, just like they told Ferrari they are not a part of the hearing, so he can turn up with high power lawyer in tow. Now that could happen after the hearing that they do a follow up having noticed him. More likely he will be rebuked in private and asked if he would rather spend time with his bag of Golf clubs or walking his dog.
What does he know? That Merc is in the clear or that he knows his days are numbered?
But there’s nothing to see here is there Joe? Storm in a tea cup right … Lol
It is a storm in a teacup. The politics that have arrived since are more serious but the actual event is a storm in a teacup and I am not changing my view on that.
Some times you just have to admit you’re wrong, and move on.
Do so.
I have to agree. There have been signs, “tip-offs” that things are amiss in the Spanish teapot, signs that lead to logical conclusion that a teapot is far too small to contain the ingredients, and their inherent combustibility.
Agree with your assessment of the choice of Ross’s words being notable, but not necessarily your conclusions, Joe. In all of this.
Your years of toil in the paddock make me reluctant to go on the offensive, as I am to you merely a reader/fan. But as I have been doing my fan thing for longer than you have been reporting (I shed tears on the news of J Clark’s untimely demise-here in the states), I have some background as well.
The aggregate of info available to me, admittedly limited, says this is no trifle, and the fallout from this is likely to be significant. Although still being able to be explained away as overreaction to a “tempest in a teapot” [the correct phrase], I perceive such an assessment to be dismissively incorrect, and a backhand to your more discerning readers.
What Mercedes/Pirelli did was wrong, they know it, knew it, and their current explanations only serve as more contradictory rope which will be used in another manner of colloquialism.
Redbull, leading the media bull…. Even though merc have done wrong (maybe) the way christian horner has jumped on this is quite disgusting and RB drop even further down the likeable scale. I did think F1 was a gentlemans sport.
The last gentleman in F1 was Rob Walker….
This perfectly matches the idea from a German publication that Todt is going after Pirelli in order to reinstate Michelin for 2014. If Mercedes walk out free, that means Pirelli will get the blame and will as a result leave F1 at the end of this year.
Well that means that there are two people in F1 journalism who think along the same lines.
Whilst that is entriely feasible it would only work if Michelin have been designing and testing F1 tyres for next year. There is nothing to prevent them testing, but if it is proved that they did, (or are) then the whole plot will be exposed.
You assume Michelin forgot everything about tires in the intervening years. It is not that long ago they had current data! Sure it is a new design, with new loadings, for a new F1 turbo car, but if the brief is make a set of tires the combinations of which do 55% of a race for the harder compound and 45% for the softer over all circuits, pretty sure they can get close and revise the setup in fall testing JUST as Pirelli would be doing. Pirelli when they came in did have little data on F1 of use. And who has reams of data from the last F1 flirtation with turbo’s? If they want in they will make the most of the available time.
His retirement plans were ‘arranged’ before this ‘calamitous event’ was organised – and now he’s just having a bit of fun?
Facetious conspiracy theory –
I shall leave the writing of ‘good stories’ to others more informed than myself –
but please don’t keep us waiting too long.
Good point.. Wondered why he put it that way. He didn’t need to.
Hi Joe,
Yep I noticed that and a few other things too… Like when answering to Kate Walker’s question about an email from CW he replied
– “The e-mail, I don’t want to comment on any matters of that sort that relate to what’s going to come through in the Tribunal”
I have the feeling he HAS this email or something fairly equivalent… Would you agree with me?
I think we should wait to see what the Tribunal comes up with.
Come on Joe, just a little clue on what you feel…. please 😉
🙂
Joe, I would like to know why this does not help…2013 Regulations don’t mention Pirelli in specific and do not have an specific tyre testing chapter……
22.1 Track testing shall be considered any track running time not part of an Event undertaken by a competitor entered in the Championship, using cars which conform substantially with the current Formula One Technical Regulations in addition to those from the previous or subsequent year , with the exception of promotional events carried out using tyres provided specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier.
Joe,
I would agree, Brawn wouldn’t put himself in harms way if he wasn’t sure. Additionally, I really doubt if Lauda and Wolff weren’t part of the group that took the decision, though the final stamp surely comes from Brawn. A full 1000 kms exercise planned with Pirelli with a 2013 car. I am sure the ‘Legal’ and ‘strategy’ department at Mercedes vetted the entire case before they took a call to go ahead with it. They surely must have read and re-read every damn FIA ruling / sporting clause in the book for all possible outcomes. If this is the case, then Mercedes must be sure of favorable outcome or an acceptable one in which the benefits from the test outweigh the tribunal judgement and its ramifications.
But since the whole post test shebang (getting a Tribunal to resolve the matter) has boiled over into something this big that anything favorable for Mercedes now feels counter intuitive.
In case it gets ugly for Mercedes at the Tribunal, is there a chance of Mercedes leaving F1 ?
I do not expect that.
Is there any reason that the rule makers are not just going after a serial offender. Every team Ross has been part of (before Mercedes) has bent the rules in a rather extreme fashion; and I guess Lewis will just love having a team principle dicking around with the rule makers (unless Mercedes is more “untouchable”)
Embarrassing Pirelli out makes a lot of sense; and perhaps Ross is putting his head above the parapet to try to force out these tyres he cannot work with. Cunning bugger, if the aim (for him) was to disadvantage Pirelli by offering them a car to test with
Whats wrong with the FIA? Why not just sign a contract with Michelin if thats the end result of all this, like normal people? Or oes Todt have somethingto prove?
How many times in his career has Ross Brawn in an FIA gaol? There’s the Benetton launch control inquiry, a Ferrari team orders row, a dispute over Brawn’s double diffuser, and the Mercedes/Pirelli dispute. Is it a case of pushing the envelope or simply flouting the rules hoping one doesn’t get caught (or severely penalized).
Ross knows how to play these games. He’s a grown-up in a land of the pygmies.
Haha and speaking of Todt, how surreal will it be for Ross and Jean to essentially face each other down after the long years of fighting the FIA side-by-side? I love how the ‘storylines’ in F1 trounce any soap opera…
It also probably does not hurt when you know where any possible skeletons from the Ferrari days are kept!
He has been meticulous in covering himself every time in the past, it would be very unusual if he slipped up this time so if I had to bet my money would be on him being ok. Could this be a failed coup attempt?
Hmmm, not meticulous EVERY time. Remember the Ferrari bargeboards? He held one up on live TV and admitted it was illegal due to a manufacturing error.
(Yet despite failing to cover himself, they STILL got off, but that’s another story.)
Times change.