Formula 1 teams discussing plans for in-season testing return
By Jonathan Noble
Friday, July 15th 2011, 14:28 GMT
Formula 1 teams have begun talks to see if there is a way for in-season testing to return next year, with FIA president Jean Todt having said he wants to free up the rules to allow more running.
Todt revealed at the Turkish Grand Prix earlier this year that he was keen to get teams to have some limited running during the season, rather than have testing limited to just a few events in the build-up to the first race.
His calls initially fell on deaf ears, with teams worried that a return to testing would lead to a big escalation in costs at a time when budgets are being kept tightly under control.
However, F1 think tank the Sporting Working Group has now begun discussions to see if consensus can be reached on a way to re-introduce testing without it having too big an impact on expenditure.
One suggestion that has been mentioned is to hold an extra young drivers' test during the summer - to add to the one that takes place at the end of the year.
Speaking about the idea of getting testing back during the season, Williams technical director Sam Michael said: "That is being reviewed in the sporting working group right now and we had a meeting at Silverstone about it. There has not been a vote yet. All they have done is put a few ideas out there about what you could potentially do, which might involve doing an extra young drivers' test during the season.
"It's just being discussed. There's not been any agreement or votes or anything. Now it's been discussed the teams will go away, discuss it internally and think about it. We haven't done anything more than that."
Michael said that although Todt had been pushing for the testing return for several months, other issues - including the future engine formula in F1 and the row over blown diffuser – had proved a distraction from sorting out this issue.
"I think everyone has got a pretty similar idea on it and it's in everyone's interest," he said. "It was a proposal put on the table, and from reading the minutes there was just an initial thought.
"There have been too many other things to sort out. It's been pretty far down the list of priorities especially in terms of V6 engines and exhaust blowing. It's the sort of thing that could be sorted out in an afternoon if need be."
Todt said during a media briefing in Turkey that he felt it was ridiculous that teams did not test at all once the season had got underway.
"For me, it is a stupid decision to have no testing during the season," he explained. "In the past it was crazy to have unlimited testing during the year, but to go from unlimited to completely banned, it is not the right measure.
"It doesn't allow young drivers to test, it doesn't give the opportunity for young drivers to learn some experience in F1, and I will make sure that this situation will change for the future.
"It cannot come back to free testing, but teams now have simulation facilities in the factory, so we are not talking about [a testing ban] being a cost-saving for the big teams.
"So we will push for a few days of free testing during the season as soon as possible but by respecting the rules."
Credit: AUTOSPORT.COM (www.autosport.com)
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