Mercedes-AMG Formula One Team cheating controversy

The **Mercedes-AMG Formula One Team** **cheating controversy**, dubbed **Mercgate** by the media, was a sporting scandal that occurred during the 2021 Formula 1 season when the FIA discovered that interim Mercedes team principal James Vowles was committing fraud in order to skirt the budget cap that was implemented that year and to gain an unfair advantage. The controversy became the biggest since the Renault Formula One crash controversy, or Crashgate.

## Background

During the middle of the 2021 Formula 1 season, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff announced that he would be retiring effective immediately, and in his place would be engineer James Vowles. During this time, the Mercedes team, while performing well, has suffered major mechanical problems and crashes throughout the season, including a crash involving Lewis Hamilton and Williams' George Russell during the Dubai Grand Prix. Because of these inconveniences, the team lost their winning streak in the standings. When Vowles became appointed, he announced an "immediate turnaround" for the team, stating that they "will be back at the podium at the next race."

Vowles' strategy, while vague, became effective. Soon, the team came back to dominating the grid once again, with their mechanical issues seemingly fixed overnight. Due to this, they were close to overtaking McLaren in the standings.

In addition, SMP bank and Robert Shwartzman were banned from the first 6 races of Formula 2, the FIA citing "suspicious monetary gain" as the reason. Then they were banned for 6 more races, likely because of a video of a drunk and somewhat violent Shwartzman.

## Toto Wolff's accusations

### Initial reports and investigation

Sometime during the 2020 Malaysian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff would check the company's expenses during the season, as he remains as part of the team despite retiring as team principal. While checking, he noticed that there were deleted logs in between when he had left as team principal and the Australian Grand Prix. Wolff then gets the suspicion that Vowles may be breaking the $145 million budget cap that was implemented at the beginning of the season, and so contacted the FIA to investigate.

### Mercedes charged

Prior to the Singapore Grand Prix, after thorough investigation by the FIA, the Mercedes-AMG Formula One team was formally accused for fraud and cheating to gain an unfair advantage. In a statement, the FIA stated that they investigated the team after the Indian Grand Prix, and found major discrepancies between the submitted data for expenses and upgrades and the actual upgrades fitted onto the Mercedes W12. The FIA also discovered the missing logs in a back-up server at the headquarters, and it became proof that Mercedes breached the $145 million budget cap by $200 million. The team was called to a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris. After being charged, the Mercedes-AMG Formula One team stated that they would not be making any comment until after the hearing.

### Involvment of SMP Bank and SMP Racing

Vowles said that he would fast-track Shwartzman's trip to F1 by having him replace Bottas for 2022. Shwartzman and the SMP Bank agreed, and Boris Rotenberg helped James Vowles with the corruption. At Boris Rotenberg's hearing, he told the press "Shwartzman was already banned from part of the Formula 2 season for 2021, so I figured we had nothing to lose."

## World Motorsport Council hearing

The World Motorsport Council hearing was held just a few days before the Singapore Grand Prix in Paris. After a 93 minute-long hearing, the council imposed sanctions on the Mercedes team. Vowles was banned indefinitely from any FIA-sanctioned event. Furthermore, Vowles was indefinitely banned from managing drivers when the FIA stated that superlicences would not be issued or renewed to any driver associated with him in the future. Vowles initially denied the allegations, to the point where he blamed McLaren of cheating and the FIA of favoritism, but ultimately confessed when the evidence was presented. In addition, Boris Rotenberg was banned from sponsoring any motorsport event. However, Rotenberg agreed on one condition - Robert Shwartzman and all other SMP-affiliated racers would be unbanned from their respective championships come 2022.

## Reaction

After Mercedes was charged, the controversy became the biggest since the Renault Crashgate controversy. As a result of this, Vowles stepped down as team principal and was replaced by Peter Bonnington. Toto Wolff would cut all ties with the team soon after, and went on to form his own Formula 2 team named Wolff GP. Sir Lewis Hamilton would also announce his retirement following the controversy, stating that while he feels ashamed to race with a controversial team, he is still grateful to them and would not like to race with anyone else.

### Mercedes loses customers

Following the controversy, all three of Mercedes' engine customers, McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin, would cut ties with Mercedes. The Williams team was especially hit hardest. Prior to the controversy, Williams had signed a deal with Mercedes finalizing the transfer of Valtteri Bottas to Williams in exchange for George Russell, and Mercedes providing technical support for Williams in the form of power units. However, Williams team principal Ronnie Williams would call the deal off after the controversy was revealed. Speaking to Sky Sports, Williams commented that while the controversy was "unsportsmanlike" and that George gets another year for the team, he was saddened about Bottas, stating "I would've saved his career."

Williams would then form a partnership with BMW to provide them with a new power unit, which Aston Martin would also utilize. McLaren, on the other hand, signed a deal with Ford Performance to utilize their power unit, though rebadged under the Cosworth name.

### Prema cuts ties with Shwartzman

After Glock's amazing super-substitute season, Shwartzman initially tried to come back to Prema in 2022. However, this was denied, and he instead secured a contract with Westwood Racing.