“It Was Not the Opportune Moment”- Mercedes F1 Not Backing Away From Ferrari Engine Protest

Earlier this year, the FIA concluded an investigation onto the Ferrari power unit. Several teams made a large hue and cry over it and forced the FIA to intervene and investigate. Finally, they reached a private settlement with Ferrari, something that Mercedes and other rivals did not appreciate.

As a result, several teams threatened legal action against Ferrari, owing to the seriousness of the matter. However, the Mercedes team abstained from doing so, ahead of what should have been the Australian GP.

Now, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff clarified that they did not drop the matter, like how some believed. Instead, they wanted to cut Ferrari some slack due to other circumstances that they were facing.

Speaking to the media during Friday Practice, he said, “We decided in Melbourne that for the start of the season, this additional controversy, plus corona, starting to get really bad in Italy, it was not the opportune moment.”

Who else backed up Mercedes in their stance?

In addition to the defending champions, future engine partners, McLaren, also spoke on the matter. CEO Zak Brown confessed that he hopes that there is some more transparency on the situation.

Earlier this year, teams jointly wrote a letter to the FIA, expressing their disappointment on how they handled the matter. Later on, the motorsport governing body responded, “To avoid the negative consequences that a long litigation would entail especially in light of the uncertainty of the outcome of such litigations and in the best interest of the championship and of its stakeholders, the FIA, in compliance with Article 4 (ii) of its Judicial and Disciplinary Rules (JDR), decided to enter into an effective and dissuasive settlement agreement with Ferrari to terminate the proceedings.”

Needless to say, this controversy is unlikely to die out any time soon and could drag on for a while. Hopefully, for everyones’ sake a quick and satisfactory solution is found.