Pirelli defends itself against favoring Mercedes

In Monaco, Mercedes and Pirelli find themselves at the center of a controversy after joint tire tests conducted following the Spanish Grand Prix were revealed. While some of the German team’s rivals fear it may have gained some advantage in understanding the 2013 tires, Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director, assures that this is not the case, as most of the testing was focused on 2014: « In reality, we were concentrated on solutions for next year and tried different types of things. Mercedes had no idea what they were testing. It was 90% about the next season. We changed [our plans regarding 2013] at the last minute. »

Christian Horner, however, is not convinced that Mercedes did not benefit from these tests: « Well, they have both their cars on the front row… it hasn’t disadvantaged them. » The Briton forgets, however, that the Silver Arrows were already locking out the front row in Barcelona. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, however, faltered in the race, as in Bahrain before that, and if the situation improves in the upcoming races, it will indeed be difficult not to think that Mercedes may have benefited from the tests conducted in Barcelona.

The Milanese manufacturer defends itself regarding the legality of these tests, revealing that it is not the first time it has proceeded in this way with a team competing in the Formula 1 World Championship: “It’s completely ‘legal’ because we are allowed to conduct 1,000 kilometers of tire testing with any team,” says Paul Hembery, head of motorsport at Pirelli. “In the World Rally Championship, our contract is exactly the same: we can conduct these tests with a current car. We have done it in the past with another team and we have asked another team to do the same work as well.”