![\"Toto-Wolff-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/gallery\/f1-2013-rif-images\/f1-2013-persons\/Toto-Wolff-1.jpg\")
Although Jenson Button said he senses a “slapped wrist” might be the outcome, Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko likened the affair to ‘spygate’, where McLaren was excluded from the constructors’ championship in 2007 and fined $100m.<\/p>\nMercedes director and team co-owner Toto Wolff is refusing to say he is worried about potential penalties as a result of the secret Pirelli tyre test.<\/p>\n
Although Jenson Button said he senses a “slapped wrist” might be the outcome, Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko likened the affair to ‘spygate’, where McLaren was excluded from the constructors’ championship in 2007 and fined $100m.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s not up to us to talk about sanctions or to express concerns,” Wolff told DPA news agency.<\/p>\n
“It will be a controlled process, and we respect the authority of the FIA.\u00a0 Everything is run very professionally and transparently, and so I have great confidence in the process,” he added.<\/p>\n
Red Bull and Ferrari were the only teams to formally protest the Mercedes test, but it is believed most other rival bosses have a similar view.<\/p>\n
“They all say ‘We’re behind you’,” said a cynical Christian Horner.\u00a0 “Just four miles back.”<\/p>\n
But Eric Boullier, boss of the Lotus team, said he is concerned that notwithstanding Pirelli’s contract with the FIA, Mercedes broke the sporting regulations.<\/p>\n
“There is a sporting regulation in place, there is even a testing agreement in place between the teams,” he is quoted by the Sun newspaper.<\/p>\n
Marussia’s Graeme Lowdon agreed: “My understanding is we’re not allowed to test in season and from what I understand, that was an in-season test.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure it will be investigated with the vigour required.”<\/p>\n
Mika Salo, a former Ferrari and Sauber driver and an occasional FIA steward, thinks teams are angry because of the ‘secret’ nature of the Barcelona test.<\/p>\n
“Paul Hembery did hours of press conferences on Thursday and Friday and he didn’t mention the test — actually he complained that developing tyres is so difficult for Pirelli because there is no testing,” Salo told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.<\/p>\n
“He forgot to mention that he had just done three days with Mercedes.”<\/p>\n
Gerhard Berger thinks both Pirelli and Mercedes are to blame.<\/p>\n
“I would not excuse Pirelli,” he told Servus TV.\u00a0 “But if Pirelli has failed to clarify something, it is up to Mercedes to really make sure it was clarified.”<\/p>\n
There is now speculation the ‘secret test’ affair could cost Pirelli its place in formula one.<\/p>\n
Red Bull’s Christian Horner is quoted by EFE news agency: “They are a competent company.<\/p>\n
“Yes, they have pushed the boundaries with its products a little, but the problem is not Pirelli, but the way all of this has happened, the lack of transparency.”<\/p>\n
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