On Saturday morning in Abu Dhabi the groundwork was laid for what is likely to become one of the dominant stories of the 2016 season, presuming that no immediate answers are supplied during the winter break.
Having submitted a five-page email of questions relating to listed parts, aerodynamic testing, and outsourcing/tech links with other teams to FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting, Mercedes were told to direct their questions to the Abu Dhabi event stewards for consideration. As the on-event policemen, the FIA stewards will be expected to come to a resolution over the next two days.
But given F1's love of appeals, processes, and endless discussion, expect to see 'the customer question' rear its ugly head again (repeatedly?) between now and the end of the 2016 season.
While Paddy Lowe has said that his email to Whiting was more a general philosophical query than an attack aimed at any one (or more...) team, few of those who read the 33-page Stewards' Document no. 17 thought of anything other than the nascent Ferrari-Haas relationship when considering the points raised by the Silver Arrows.
"Mercedes states that it considers that there are a number of ambiguities within Appendices 6 and 8 of the 2015 Formula One Sporting Regulations," the document reads, before going on to say that the Brackley racers are "requesting the Stewards to settle the matter".
Lowe's questions to the FIA all relate to clarifying just what a customer team can and cannot do both with and for its parent/supplier team, to put it in a nutshell.
All season long there have been questions about the nature and extent of collaboration between Ferrari and Haas before the American outfit joins the grid next year. FIA investigations have found nothing untoward in the relationship, and Mercedes are now wondering to what extent they - and their rival teams - can collaborate with third parties within the letter of the law.
"Resolution of the ambiguities is of the utmost importance to Mercedes as it is currently considering the possibility of collaborating with third parties on its testing programme, including the sharing of staff and knowledge, which it believes could be permitted under the current Regulations as drafted," the Request for Settlement of a Matter reads. "It is understood by Mercedes that other Formula One teams may also be considering operating in a similar manner."
Lowe has sought clarification on a number of regulatory matters largely relating to appendices 6 and 8 of the FIA's Sporting Regulations: listed parts and aerodynamic testing restrictions, but the crux of the matter also involves intellectual property, and whether or not the IP of a linked third party such as external constructor, supplier, or customer can be considered to be the IP of the parent team.
This is not a matter that will be resolved simply, irrespective of how efficient the Abu Dhabi stewards are at coming to a decision. The potential advantages to be had from redefining the concept of third party relationships are such that this is a matter that we can safely expect to run and run, with endless appeals, hearings, and so on.
Brace yourselves...