As Mercedes speeds ahead in formula one, tempers remain frayed and fingers are still pointing in the wake of the 'test-gate' scandal. Many in the paddock believe Mercedes' dramatic turnaround - two wins in three races - since its secret Pirelli test is because of the unfair advantage gained by Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton over those 1000 highly controversial kilometres.
Asked if he still would have won at Silverstone if not for the Barcelona test, a defiant German Rosberg said on Sunday: "For sure. Definitely." Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, however, is not so sure. "We have nothing to say," he is quoted by Spain's AS newspaper. "We avoid controversy and stay calm."
Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda, however, blasted the paddock insinuations. "I cannot hear this nonsense. Everything was finished with the court (tribunal) ruling. So we are concentrating on racing," said the Austrian legend.
Relations between Mercedes and Red Bull, who along with Ferrari filed the original protest and have been highly vocal about the Barcelona test, are particularly fraught. Mercedes director Toto Wolff is believed to have made some crass comments about the Red Bull company in the German press last week.
He justified his counterpunch by insisting to Tagesspiegel that "there is a limit and Red Bull exceeded it", and admitting his comments might have made Dietrich Mateschitz "spit out his cereal". "Eloquent. Very eloquent," Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko hit back. According to Kleine Zeitung, Marko has vowed only to deal with Lauda in the future. "At least he (Lauda) is a man of character," said Marko. (GMM)
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'Test-gate' whispers linger as Mercedes speeds ahead
- Published on 01 Jul 2013 16:25
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
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Jan 26
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Jan 27
M. Verstappen
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Jan 28
A. Antonelli
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Jan 29
G. Russell
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Jan 30
L. Hamilton
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
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Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
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Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 18
G. Russell
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Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
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Feb 20
C. Leclerc
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
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Spain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
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Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team Ferrari
- Points 3,716
- Podiums 137
- Grand Prix 244
- Country GB
- Date of b. Jan 7 1985 (41)
- Place of b. Tewin, GB
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.74 m
- 485,176 comments on Ferrari
67 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Lewis Hamilton
Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 638,776 comments on Mercedes
- 59 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Mercedes
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