The story is incredible, but true. Mercedes has withdrawn from the tests scheduled by Pirelli at Paul Ricard after the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix for the development of low-profile wet tyres in order not to risk exceeding the budget cap.
The world champion team, which had the opportunity to test 2022 slick tires following the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna GP, informed the Italian manufacturer that he will not be able to be present at next week’s tests at Castellet in order to avoid break the spending limit approved by the FIA in the financial regulation.
The session had been regularly scheduled for May 25 and 26, but it seems that the additional costs of restoring Valtteri Bottas’ W12 after the crash at Enzo and Dino Ferrari caused by George Russell also advised the Mercedes top management to withdraw from wet tyre test.
No one has ever thought of excluding Pirelli tests from the Budget cap count and the topic has only recently emerged in Spain, so much so that in the Principality it will be discussed so that this expenditure chapter can be removed from controlled costs next year, but it all depends on how the costs relating to the use of the parts that make up the mule car are calculated, in particular the power units and accessories have restrictions on use defined in the F1 Sporting Regulations and the surpluses determine an increase in costs on budget.
Ferrari has made itself available to take over Mercedes at Paul Ricard: in Maranello they accepted the invitation from Pirelli which cannot possibly interrupt the tests scheduled in the calendar, but it becomes macroscopic that the Scuderia will be able to carry out seven days of the twenty-one total scheduled .
In fact, the Maranello team has already tested three days in Jerez in the winter and one in Bahrain. In the booklet there is another session after the Hungarian GP for which the total would rise to seven. Obviously, in Maranello they were able to be more efficient, but we hope that there will be no controversy due to the fact that Ferrari has tested the new Pirelli tires more than others …
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