Mercedes hopes for a mild punishment

 

At Mercedes, they believe they deserve merely a reprimand for testing with this year’s race car, or, in the worst case, a ban on testing young racers if an international court finds they have broken the rules.

Mercedes defender Paul Harris continued to argue in his closing remarks that his team had not broken the rules. Apparently, however, the German team is aware that they are in deep trouble, so Harris put it to court that the team acted “in good faith”.

“We have been very careful not to violate Article 22,” he argued. “We called Charlie Whiting, who we think should be called in such cases. We spoke to him twice, including the team boss. We also thought it would be a good idea for Charlie to inquire about the matter further in the legal department and he confirmed to us what we thought and hoped for. We absolutely wouldn’t have proceeded if Whiting hadn’t agreed to this.

If we are wrong, then we apologize to Fii and the other teams if we violated Article 22 of the Sports Rules. It was not our intention to violate this article. We acted in good faith. If we are going to be punished, this must be taken into account and it must be small. That would be a rebuke. ”

During the season, only testing of young racers is allowed. This will take place in Silverstone next month, so Harris believes that in the worst case, his team should be excluded from work or from all testing if the court wants to ensure that Mercedes did not gain an advantage. “It’s a three-day test and it’s a race car test where the team has complete control over what’s going on. The team there knows everything about tires and race cars. If we are in these waters, then the international court can exclude us from the events under the auspices of the Fie, and therefore also from the testing of young racers. ”