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THE (POSSIBLE) CONDITIONS FOR MERCEDES NOT TO PROCEED

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The controversies tied to the episodes of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which ended Max Verstappen winning his first world title at Lewis Hamilton’s expense continues to hold centre stage, especially in Mercedes.

After having seen its protests presented to the race stewards concerning the final laps on the Yas Marina track knocked back the team from Brackley has 96 hours to formally lodge an appeal with the International Automobile Federation.

Rumours from Germany speak of a possible abandonment of this action that would put Verstappen’s title sub-judice, as well as causing damage to the image of Formula 1 and Liberty Media.

“Mercedes has until Thursday to lodge an appeal to FIA after having presented an intention to proceed. After a very eventful meeting it may also be evaluating the possibility of not proceeding, provided there is a review of the regulations, as well as a change in the top management of Formula 1 and the Federation,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

“There is a lot of unrest and from the news that comes from beyond the borders there is strong desire to have clarifications on the regulations. It is clear there must be uniformity of views by the judges is needed, an aspect that has been lacking on a number of occasions this year. I am certainly in favour of giving greater freedom to the drivers, as long there is uniformity for all the season,” concluded the manager from Faenza.

Chaos F1, MINARDI “7 teams are attacking but only Red Bull’s consultant speaks”

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The Covid-19 crisis is not the only thing destabilizing Formula 1. Less than a week away from the Australian Grand Prix there is still no certainty that it will run smoothly, even if it is now practically sure. In the mean time the decision of the organizers of the Bahrain has come, the GP will be run but behind closed doors.

In recent days however, there has been a rumour that seven teams without Ferrari engines -– Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, Alpha Tauri, Renault, Force India e Williams –have asked the Federation with a joint communiqué for greater clarity on the agreement reached by the FIA with Ferrari on the matter of the power-unit.

According to articles 4 (ii) and 4 (vi) of the disciplinary and juridical regulations FIA has decided to enter into an agreement with Ferrari to end this proceeding (having failed to show any irregularity) and to guarantee its confidentiality. The person raising the tone was Helmut Marko, the right-hand man of Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz, who used heavy words in regards to the Federation.

Gian Carlo MINARDI “I am perplexed because all the teams and motors suppliers not tied to Ferrari have kept their silence and only supporting a joint statement in which they requested greater clarity from the Federation. Only Marko raised his voice using very strong words in regards to Federation which declared that it had taken all the measures necessary to protect the sport and its role and reputation as regulator of the Formula 1 World Championship. Being only a consultant Marko cannot be pursued from the sporting point of view,” underlined  interviewed at the microphones of Minardi.it.

“To me it looks like a staged act. Let’s not forget that we’re in the middle of the renewal of the Concorde Agreement, a period that is historically full of controversy in which all the teams try to achieve the maximum result and the current financial sharing has not met with Mercedes’ approval.”

“In the mean time the World Council has supported Jean Todt’s work in regards to the secret agreement reached with Ferrari (which should have revealed its secrets on all the grey areas of the regulations), warning the seven teams,”

Has “the end” really been written?