Mercedes are in hot water after their rivals discovered they conducted a 1,000km tyre test for Pirelli in secret ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg went on to win the next round of the championship in Monaco.
Submit your funniest caption suggestion for the picture above in the comments and a selection of the best will be chosen for tomorrow’s round-up.
Caption Competition
- Caption Competition 240: Snoozuka
- Caption Competition 239: Norris in full flight
- Caption Competition 238: Vasseur makes a point
- Caption Competition 237: Nic-OMG
- Caption Competition 236: Ricciardo’s roar
Browse all previous Caption Competitions
Image © Pirelli/LAT
Eddie (@wackyracer)
1st June 2013, 19:00
Paul’s buddy – I think i saw this car somewhere
Umar Majid (@um1234)
1st June 2013, 19:01
I will never win it. but i cannot wait for the winner
Dion (@infinitygc)
1st June 2013, 19:02
Ah, they grow up so fast. It only seems like yesterday they had tire-issues…
celeste (@celeste)
1st June 2013, 19:03
hahahahaha
Andrei (@andrei)
1st June 2013, 20:28
:D
Aish Heydrich (@aish)
1st June 2013, 22:09
winner
celeste (@celeste)
1st June 2013, 19:03
So, should we go for the silver?
Eddie (@wackyracer)
1st June 2013, 19:04
Paul’s buddy – Ooh! Deja Vu!
Mach1 (@mach1)
1st June 2013, 19:06
“That driver has completely lost his marbles!”
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
1st June 2013, 20:45
I do like this one @mach1 :D
BasCB (@bascb)
2nd June 2013, 19:49
:-)
markyrc (@markyrc)
1st June 2013, 19:07
– what car is that?
– I don’t know, looks like a Sauber.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
1st June 2013, 19:13
Check my pulse, I think I see a Mercedes leading…
Mach1 (@mach1)
1st June 2013, 19:16
Pirelli still can’t work out how they were spotted at the Mercedes “secret test”. They had strictly informed all staff to remove their name badges to avoid being identified in the crowds.
chris_browning (@chris_browning)
1st June 2013, 19:18
Degrading tires weren’t making Pirelli’s ‘hook an F1 car with a crane’ game any easier
bosyber (@bosyber)
1st June 2013, 19:27
Like that @chris_browning, puts picture again in a different context, and away from the tyre-ing tiregates :) I LOLed.
PieLighter (@pielighter)
1st June 2013, 19:39
@chris_browning
Oh that is brilliant.
michaeldobson13 (@michaeldobson13)
1st June 2013, 19:57
The marshals at massanet were much better at this game –
http://www.addaxteam.com/imagenes/galeria/79/2947/g/_X5J7833.jpg
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
1st June 2013, 22:35
GP2 is easy!
Traverse (@)
1st June 2013, 21:27
Genuinely fantastic caption from left field, Well done @chris_browning
Jon Sandor (@jonsan)
1st June 2013, 19:18
“Once we understand these tyres more, which we will eventually get to, then I think another win is definitely on the books.” Lewis Hamilton.
Sometimes reality is funnier than fiction.
Aditya (@adityafakhri)
1st June 2013, 19:20
Dear Mr. Wolff, we’re waiting the AMGs to be arrive on our home by next week.
p.s. you are welcome.
bpacman (@bpacman)
1st June 2013, 19:22
“I told you shrinking the Mercedes would cause a significant improvement in its tyre wear”
Adam1 (@adam1)
1st June 2013, 19:24
“So you remembered to invite all the teams right?”
Pandaslap (@pandaslap)
2nd June 2013, 8:22
@adam1
winner
Carlitox (@carlitox)
1st June 2013, 19:26
Turns out their idea to put old Bridgestones with Pirelli stickers was good…
gdewilde (@gdewilde)
1st June 2013, 19:34
Pirelli-guy 1: “Lewis or Nico?”
Pirelli-guy 2: “You still can’t distinguish them after all those kilometres??”
Goriot
1st June 2013, 19:36
– These Pirelli tests are so secret !
– Yeah. My wife thinks I’m cheating her, and she asks me to divorce.
– We should tell the press, then.
– Sure.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
1st June 2013, 19:37
Paul, did I hear that Mercedes are pursuing another one of our technical engineers?
airtone
1st June 2013, 19:38
I’m tired of all of this
Japhew Ryder (@japhew-ryder)
1st June 2013, 19:39
– “so, have you been to the bookie yesterday?”
– “yes sir, everything according to the plan”
jim kish (@kishf1)
1st June 2013, 19:39
we’re winning !!!
Lin1876 (@lin1876)
1st June 2013, 19:40
“Come on, Nico, hit tyre trouble! We’re both screwed if you win this thing.”
andae23 (@andae23)
1st June 2013, 19:50
“Least he could do is wave… ungrateful *******.” ;)
Steve McGrath (@)
1st June 2013, 21:11
Lol..!!
CNSZU
2nd June 2013, 12:58
Brilliant.
Daniel Yu
1st June 2013, 19:52
Following the secret tyre test, Pirelli at long last acquired two trackside seats at the sold-out Monaco Grand Prix.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
1st June 2013, 19:53
“Sir,Please let go of my hand, I know you’re edgy each time a Mercedes goes past but I think we sorted those de-lamination issues out at that test last week.”
Simon (@s162000)
1st June 2013, 19:54
“It’s not going to look good if Nico wins this is it?”
“No, no it isn’t”
“I thought so. *sigh*”
Luca Nuvolari (@nuvolari71)
1st June 2013, 20:02
Dude, who invited that guy from Red Bull?
Not me, damn, what’s he doing here?
Hire him…. now!
For Sure (@forsure)
2nd June 2013, 17:48
Good one!
robk23 (@robk23)
1st June 2013, 20:14
‘So it’s agreed, we switch sides halfway through the FIA investigation’.
magon4 (@magon4)
1st June 2013, 20:14
“Nico, this is not looking good. You can go faster now.”
Steve McGrath (@)
1st June 2013, 20:15
#1 Is that his last lap?
#2 Yup
#1 78 laps and a Merc still in front eh??
#2 Yup
[Silence]
#1 These Pirelli shirts of ours really crease up don’t they?
#2 Yeah Much prefer the Mercedes gear we were wearing 3 weeks ago…
#1 [Cough]..shh!!!! [Cough]
[Silence]
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
1st June 2013, 20:47
+1
hzh (@hzh00)
1st June 2013, 20:25
In the round up:
After finishing the 1000 km test, and due to their excessive degradation rates of the tyres and the unexpected extra sets of tyres that were brought to the circuit during the test, Mercedes were asked by Pirelli to pay for half of the sets of tyres used. However, and after Mercedes refused to do that, Pirelli threatened them to expose the test story to the public to put them in trouble, which was the case in the end.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
1st June 2013, 20:31
“ok, take a razor and make Nico’s tyres look worn”
specialk69 (@specialk69)
1st June 2013, 20:33
I knew we should have got some bait for this fishing trip…
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
1st June 2013, 20:44
…so I said to Nico, “How are you going to treat the tyres?”
He said he was just happy to have a good long “P” on them.
And he’s winning – maybe he’s onto something?
bull mello (@bullmello)
1st June 2013, 20:49
Music on headphones, The Beatles:
“Listen,
Do you want to know a secret?,
Do you promise not to tell?, whoa oh, oh…”
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
1st June 2013, 21:02
“So my girlfriend keeps telling me I’m being secretive. I don’t get her. First of all she should’ve noticed I stayed at the pub after she left and I totally booked the hotel room for me and my mistress with my own name.”
Traverse (@)
1st June 2013, 21:37
“Is that Rosberg or Hamilton?”
Dion (@infinitygc)
1st June 2013, 21:44
Another one:
Pirelli weren’t quite sure what the fuss was, since Mercedes had already hired dozens of their engineers before the test.
Dion (@infinitygc)
1st June 2013, 21:46
*what the fuss was about
Serban7 (@serr7)
1st June 2013, 21:46
#1: Whoa! How is Nico still leading? I thought Mercedes had some problems with their tyres.
#2: That’s the mentality kid!
crr917 (@crr917)
1st June 2013, 21:48
Pirelli guy 1: “Exclusive offer – join F1 today and get free inseason testing for the first year.” Sounds good, right?
Pirelli guy 2: Should add “Offer only applies to car manufacturers – VW, Toyota and BMW”. Remember, we always “act professionally, with transparency and in absolute good faith.”
John H (@john-h)
1st June 2013, 21:56
“Oh yeah, I can definitely see debris out there Paul… definitely”.
Traverse (@)
1st June 2013, 22:14
Mr Right: “Hold my left hand, go on hold it, don’t be afraid to show our love in public”
Mr Left: “I’m not afraid, I’m just worried that we won’t be able to adopt, what with my criminal record and past dealings with the Sith”
Mr Right: “Adoption!? You’ve never mentioned this before…who did you want to adopt?”
Mr Left: “Rosberg”
Mr Right: “Yeah but, I’ve always wanted a girl…”
Mr Left: “Exactly!”.
Aish Heydrich (@aish)
1st June 2013, 22:14
“I think we need to woo the teams into voting us for a 2014 contract.”
“Hmm, you’re right. Lets do it one team at a time.”
Aish Heydrich (@aish)
1st June 2013, 22:16
“You’ll get a lap dance from Britney, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.”
Aish Heydrich (@aish)
1st June 2013, 22:18
“I’d rather be at our calender shoot, right across the beach.”
Umar Majid (@um1234)
1st June 2013, 22:30
Hembery “We are not that bad, its the outlap and look at the state of those tyres”
Umar Majid (@um1234)
1st June 2013, 22:31
Mercedes hungry for success and starving for new tyres
jhetherton (@jhetherton)
1st June 2013, 22:50
Yep, no worries Ross everyone else sent someone over to Rascasse but we’ll keep an eye out for you.
verstappen (@verstappen)
1st June 2013, 22:51
Enjoy it while it lasts.
runforitscooby (@runforitscooby)
1st June 2013, 23:05
“Ok our job is complete, we have hard , medium , soft, super-soft and Mercedes compounds “
Paul (@frankjaeger)
1st June 2013, 23:07
“Wanna see a magic trick?”
“Yeah sure..”
“I bet I can make that car go faster without touching it.”
“You’re on”
sbewers (@sbewers)
1st June 2013, 23:33
Pirelli realise the tyre problem is worse than they thought, as Mercedes becomes the first Constructor to win the Monaco Grand Prix not knowing their lefts from their rights.
Breno (@austus)
1st June 2013, 23:36
“Be careful Nico, they are really fragile.”
“So, did they offer to hire you yet?”
smudgersmith1 (@smudgersmith1)
1st June 2013, 23:41
Listen I’m telling you, no one knows !
Master firelee (@master-firelee)
1st June 2013, 23:54
P.H: “Soak it up Lads this is the last time we’ll be coming here for a while….”
BlackJack (@danieljaksa)
2nd June 2013, 1:39
So which job did Toto give you next year, Tyre Manager?
photozen (@photozen)
2nd June 2013, 2:02
You’re right Paul, it’s better we watch the race from here, rather than having Tapas on the boat Mercedes bought us across the way.
photozen (@photozen)
2nd June 2013, 2:06
Round and round and round they go, Nico hasn’t stopped yet, let’s hope nobody knows.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
2nd June 2013, 2:39
“Do you think they will be more or less mad than they are now when they find out we’re giving them square tyres next year?’
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
2nd June 2013, 4:29
It seemed like yesterday when I saw that car at barcelona.
Bruno (@brunes)
2nd June 2013, 6:18
Some time in the future …
FOR SALE – Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W04
– “Look, that 2013 Merc is for sale”
– “Yes, it’s got just over 1000kms on the clock”
Robbie (@robbie)
2nd June 2013, 6:47
And here we have the new set of Pirelli’s the company has chosen in order to avoid any further controversy.
ivz (@ivz)
2nd June 2013, 7:36
This doesn’t look good…
Rasty
2nd June 2013, 8:14
– Today is the most boring race of the year…
– (Yawn). Sure.
– Pirelli tyres don’t add spice to the race…
– (Yawn). Sure.
nackavich (@nackavich)
2nd June 2013, 8:15
“Now that one looks like a winner..”
“Which one? The Merc?”
“No, the blonde on the yacht.”
alexf1man (@alexf1man)
2nd June 2013, 9:25
Those harder tyres seem to be doing the trick… hopefully no one will notice
Imre (@f1mre)
2nd June 2013, 10:36
:D
andae23 (@andae23)
2nd June 2013, 17:38
Good one!
alexf1man (@alexf1man)
2nd June 2013, 9:26
It’s alexf1man’s birthday on Tuesday? I had no idea! Spent the last two weeks going through the Mercedes test data…
Jack (@jackisthestig)
2nd June 2013, 10:30
“Anywhere around here I can put a bet on, Ive got a feeling about them!”
Jack (@jackisthestig)
2nd June 2013, 10:45
“Thats a nice watch Paul, is it new?” “Cheers, yeah Toto Wolf just gave uuh uum I mean I found it.”
Matthew (@matt-j76)
2nd June 2013, 12:51
that’s new
Umar Majid (@um1234)
2nd June 2013, 12:53
Hembery”See that boat over there, Toto Wolff gave it as a present for choosing mercedes to test in barcelona”
Starbuck (@starbuck)
2nd June 2013, 13:19
“Didn’t think so many people would show up for our RC car race …”
Milos Zivkovic (@iamaflyingfinn)
2nd June 2013, 13:29
1000km makes me tyred.
Milos Zivkovic (@iamaflyingfinn)
2nd June 2013, 13:38
Q. Do you think Lewis would rather be beaten or drive a bad car.
A. Ask Michael, He was both and at the same time! Har har
SeaHunt
2nd June 2013, 14:45
You think the teams are angry now, wait until they find out about Nico’s re-badged Michelins…
Mark Thomson (@melthom)
2nd June 2013, 15:26
“So it’s dinner at Mercedes headquarters next week is it?”
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd June 2013, 16:56
Pirrelli man – “What the hell?!? Why is Mercedes running their 2011 challenger for this race?!?!”
Estesark (@estesark)
2nd June 2013, 23:33
I like it.
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd June 2013, 17:07
ANother one just for kicks..
Caption – Mercedes’ two new recruits see their hard work paying off
For Sure (@forsure)
2nd June 2013, 17:57
Pirelli engineers maintain a studied indifference as David Coulthard plays a montage of all his Monaco podiums against the wall of his hotel, off camera.
Rupert Richardson
2nd June 2013, 18:11
Oh, no! The Red Bull guy’s spotted our new tyres on the Merc. Pretend it didn’t happen…
Jack (@jackisthestig)
2nd June 2013, 18:37
“All this ‘storm in a teacup’ talk is making me thirsty, go get us a brew!”
Nimba (@nimba)
2nd June 2013, 19:26
Hey Paul, pssst, Do you think Rosberg would go for another tyre stop ? Coz if he doesn’t, we are screwed.
Andre Furtado
2nd June 2013, 21:43
This ought to show them, we (Pirelli) aren’t the problem, the problems is their damn politics. Is the press release saying the usual it’s not our fault done yet?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
2nd June 2013, 22:12
Yep, we’re boned.
eddie3 (@eddie3)
3rd June 2013, 0:32
Hope they don’t go into the pirrelli garage
Neil Caine (@neilcaine)
3rd June 2013, 12:56
One of the Pirelli guys on the radio – “thanks for the lovely silver shirts Mr Brawn, we added the Pirelli stickers, -so nobody will notice! – COME ON NICO!!!!!”
dexterous (@dexterous)
4th June 2013, 12:20
“Is that the same car testing the pirelli’s” So we do have good tyres
DJBGTR (@djbgtr)
5th June 2013, 0:00
“These stick on Pirelli badges have done the trick havent they?”
“Yeah you cant see any of the Mercedes logo underneath”
Mouselandf1
6th June 2013, 11:13
Paul:That Damn Mercedes.Where is the tyre…….Oh wait,they use Bridgestones