Pup wrote:Well, both Ferrari and Red Bull are backing down now, taking the 'we only wanted to know if we can do the same' angle. And reportedly Bernie has called the teams and told them to deal with it, because he's told Pirelli to make whatever changes they want for Canada, regardless of who protests. Which sounds to me like Pirelli are about to sign their contract for next year.
Very astute remark, Pup! I can only repeat myself. Pirelli broke the stalemate by a bold interpretation of the rules. If they get pulled in front of an international tribunal they will have a good defence because they obeyed the letter of the law by inviting all teams in 2012. They did not have to listen to any FOTA agreements because there is no Concord in place to give FOTA's decisions legality.
Pirelli's commercial position as a result of the completed test is very strong. They are miles ahead of Hankook or Michelin in preparation for 2014. F1 was failing to give their current supplier enough testing before he boldly acquired enough data. How can any other company hope to come anywhere near the knowledge Pirelli now have due to the test? Bernie and the teams know this very well. They would not dare to rely on another company to get the 2014 rubber right. So Pup is right to point out that commercially the test has cleared the situation and it is all green for Pirelli to go forward as the chosen supplier in 2014.
I believe the FiA and a potential international tribunal will consider that Pirelli were between a rock and a hard place as a consequence of the current concord mess. Todt is not a dumb man. He is unlikely to fight a battle that is already lost if he had any intentions to bring French company Michelin back into F1. He will equally have very little reason to bring Hankook into F1 to the detriment of the 2014 development situation. The teams will have enough on their plate to cope with new power plants and new aerodynamic configurations. They do not need a rookie tyre supplier to complicate the job. So I see very little reason for a political intervention by the FiA. It means that a tribunal if it is even convened will be in a position to use a ton of discretion on the alleged rule breaking.
My view is that the FiA will probably arrange a deal behind closed doors which will satisfy the complaining teams Red Bull and Ferrari. Perhaps they are promised similar tests during the rest of the running season which would re-establish the sporting equity. It would make an awefull lot of sense all round to terminate the affair that way.
