Ferrari and Red Bull forced to run from March 1st to 4th
The two teams will finally have to ride like the rest of the pack, from Thursday to Sunday.
We announced last Saturday that Ferrari and Red Bull had decided to shift their four days of testing, initially planned from March 1st to 4th (like the other nine teams present this week) to March 2nd to 5th. This change in schedule was motivated, in particular, by the desire to have more time before these tests to manufacture parts and be able to try them out in Barcelona. Christian Horner stated in this regard: “We have decided to join Ferrari to run from Friday to Monday instead of from Thursday to Sunday. We are shifting everything by a day. From a logistical standpoint, it makes perfect sense. We asked Ferrari if we could join them, and they agreed.” A “de facto” partnership which, according to our British colleagues from GPUpdate.net, was reached after a discussion of more than an hour and a half between the head of the taurine team and the Scuderia’s management.
This was without considering a note sent by the FIA to the teams with the aim of clarifying Article 22 of the Formula 1 sporting regulations regarding the ban on private testing and exceptions to this rule. Red Bull and Ferrari are therefore forced, against their initial will, to attend in Barcelona from Thursday to Sunday. The origin of this clarification is not known, although some teams reportedly expressed their dissatisfaction privately regarding the rescheduling of test days requested by their competitors.
As a reminder, Marussia will not participate in these four test days, having failed one of the 18 FIA crash tests, which have been, since this season, an essential prerequisite for the possibility of participating in the preseason tests.
