Lauda bet €50 with Marko that Mercedes would not be penalized
The Mercedes team has repeatedly stated that it believes it did not violate the regulations by conducting three days of testing with Pirelli using its current car. This confidence was reaffirmed by Niki Lauda, who expressed his expectation that the German team would not be penalized.
Since last weekend, Mercedes has been at the center of a controversy following the completion of three days of testing alongside Pirelli. The matter has been much discussed over the Monaco weekend to the point where Ferrari and Red Bull have lodged an official protest.
The matter was reviewed by the commissioners present at the Monaco Grand Prix. They spoke with the various parties and decided to transmit the file to the FIA, which should look into the matter through its International Tribunal. It should also be noted that Mercedes might not be the only team conducting tire tests with Pirelli; in fact, Scuderia Ferrari reportedly did the same before Barcelona, but with a 2011 car and their reserve driver, Pedro de la Rosa.
On the side of several teams, reactions were quick to emerge, notably from Red Bull, with Helmut Marko stating on the microphone of Servus TV that such tests did not comply with the regulations and that it was a violation of the FIA’s sporting regulations. Niki Lauda continues to reaffirm that the Mercedes team did nothing wrong by conducting these tests in Barcelona following the Spanish Grand Prix. He did not hesitate to attack Red Bull, saying: “Red Bull was also approached (for tests) but we were simply quicker to accept. So they are just sore losers.”
To show how confident he is that Mercedes has not broken the regulations, the Austrian – non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG F1 team – revealed he has placed a bet on the outcome of the case with Helmut Marko: « I made a bet with Helmut Marko – 50 euros – that there will be no consequences for Mercedes. »
Besides Lauda, another member of the F1 paddock admitted that he did not expect the German team to be heavily sanctioned following these tests. It is Jenson Button who confided to the Guardian: « Mercedes did a good job and even without these tire tests, I think they could have won the race. I think the teams that protested were more surprised that it happened. […] I don’t see what they [the FIA] could do, if not nothing at all. Maybe a reprimand. I think the teams that protested just want clarification because we would all like to do 1,000 km of testing to understand [the tires] a bit more as we are so limited in terms of testing. »
