“We haven’t launched anything against a particular team”, Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff said at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a ruling was sought from race stewards.
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In a related story, Jackie Stewart, Britain’s first and until this season only triple Formula One world champion, would like to see Germany’s Nico Rosberg take the title off Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton in 2016.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel finished 2015 with an eye-catching drive from 15th on the grid to finish fourth in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and then forecast that Ferrari can overcome “beatable” Mercedes next year. “We were looking at partnerships with some of the teams which are our engine customers, in order to optimise on the aero development and we weren’t quite sure about the rules, which were ambiguous”.
The stewards, however, have cleared Ferrari and Haas of any wrongdoing.
Among them is a statement that any competitor planning to enter F1 should be governed by the rules on design and development restrictions from the moment their entry is accepted. The American outfit have used Ferrari’s wind tunnel as part of their arrangement.
Their questions came after widespread concerns Ferrari used their links with Haas to get around the restrictions.
“Resolution of the ambiguities is of the utmost importance to Mercedes as it is now considering the possibility of collaborating with third parties on its testing programme, including the sharing of staff and knowledge, which it believes could be permitted under the current regulations as drafted”, the team added.
Analysing the issue on Sky Sports F1, 1996 world champion Damon Hill said it was normal for teams to keep close tabs on what their rivals were up to away from the track.
The closing races of 2015 offered hope for the future but just how much of a pointer they really are remains to be seen.
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Ferrari have been working closely with the new U.S. based Haas team, who are due to make their debut next season and enjoy the use of a full scale rolling road wind tunnel in Concord, North Carolina.
