Alienturnedhuman wrote:
As far as I know the FIA are not investigating it so from that sense it would seem the matter is closed.
From a legal point of view, Mercedes ordering Force India is identical to Red Bull ordering Toro Rosso. While Toro Rosso may be part of the Red Bull company, from the FIA point of view it is a separate team, a separate entity. Obviously - from a fan's perspective, and from a corporate perspective - they are more close than Force India and Mercedes are but from a Formula One point of view they are equally distinct.
It's not great for the sport when either orders the other to let their drivers through. The argument that Mercedes could make Force India's life difficult by withholding engines can equally apply to the RB/TR situation. RB could tell the TR drivers they won't get promoted or the TR team bosses they'll be out of a job if they don't wave the RB drivers by.
Part of the reason this matter may have not raised eye brows is because the Toro Rosso / Red Bull situation over the years has effectively made it accepted. It may be Red Bull's "junior team" within their corporate structure but that's just a label given to it by them. There is no such thing as a 'junior team' with special privileges within the rules of the sport.
With Ferrari now having Haas and Alfa Romeo-Sauber, Merc having Force India, and Red Bull having Toro Rosso - all of the big teams now have 'junior teams' of some description, I'm just surprised it took Mercedes and Ferrari so long to catch up with the idea.
What do you mean Ferrari having Haas? What are they having, can you elaborate? I don't remember Haas jumping out of the way of Ferrari (it doesn't mean that it hasn't happened, just that I don't remember it).
The RB-TR position is unique. They have the same parent company, but they are different entities nowadays. They don't even share the same engines to give each other data anymore. They used to in the early years, then they separated completely. The biggest thing is the driver situation, but this is again dictated by RBR and not RB. This means that the two teams are separate, but the drivers are all contracted as Red Bull Racing drivers. Because of that they can swap around drivers between the teams, they are not the "sister" teams that they used to be.
In terms of racing of course we can expect them to do something like that, it is not nice but if the drivers want to please their bosses, then so be it. For me orders are orders, even if it is in the same team. They can be used in good effect, say when the two drivers are on different strategies or when for example Hamilton recently asked if he could have a crack at overtaking the other car and if not then he would give his place back (can't remember which race though). But when they are manipulated then it just leaves a bad taste.
I don't remember before a team not being affiliated with another but paying their driver directly. It is a bit absurd. They are not under the same ownership, just straight paid from the competitor.