Mercedes have welcomed the opportunity to explain their allegedly illegal tyre test with Pirelli after being summoned to appear before the sport’s governing body, the FIA.
The German team is under investigation for a potential breach of Formula One’s sporting regulations in running a 2013 race-spec car in a test for Pirelli at Barcelona following this year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
That led to a protest from Red Bull and Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix where the stewards, after an investigation, passed the matter to the International Motoring Federation (FIA).
The FIA announced from Paris on Wednesday that, as a result of their inquiries, Mercedes had been called to face the International Tribunal.
In their own statement on Thursday, Mercedes said the tribunal hearing would be a perfect opportunity to explain.
“We welcome the opportunity to explain the full facts of the Pirelli test in an open and transparent manner at the International Tribunal.
“Sporting integrity is of primary importance to Mercedes-Benz and we have the utmost confidence in the due process of the FIA.”
Meanwhile, one of the team’s drivers, Nico Rosberg, has said there was no gain for Mercedes because Pirelli had full control at the test where both he and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton did the driving.
“We have no say whatsoever — they (Pirelli) say ‘you are doing that, that, that and that’ and the engineers that they have run our program,” he told Sky Sports.
“So it is not for us to learn anything or to decide on anything that we do.”
Rosberg, the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, is seeking his fourth straight pole position in this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.