The new drivers will be able to have a day of testing

Formula 1 teams will be allowed to give mid-season drivers a testing day as part of the new regulations announced by the FIA for 2010. This year, teams were strictly limited to aerodynamic testing outside of Grand Prix weekends. Consequently, newcomers like Jaime Alguersuari, who made his debut with Toro Rosso at the Hungarian Grand Prix, had never driven a F1 car beyond straight-line tests. This rule also applied when Michael Schumacher attempted to make his comeback with Scuderia Ferrari as a replacement for Felipe Massa.

Next year, any replacement driver without recent mileage will be able to have a race day on a circuit that is not on the calendar.

The new regulation stipulates: « If a team declares that one of its current race drivers must be replaced by a driver who has not participated in a F1 race in the last two calendar years, then a day of on-track testing will be allowed between the start of the week preceding the second event (Australian GP) and the last event of the championship (Abu Dhabi GP). »

The following elements must be observed: « The test day can only be conducted by the new driver and must not take place on a circuit hosting a race in 2010. »

« The trial day may only be conducted within a period of 14 days before the replacement and 14 days after the replacement. »

« If a team, having declared the replacement of a driver, conducts a test day with a driver who ultimately is not the replacement, the team will be penalized with one less test day during the following off-season. »

Among the adjustments to the 2010 regulations, the garages will be the same for everyone. This new point puts an end to the situation where the teams that finished at the bottom of the standings the year before the current season had to work in narrower garages during Grand Prix weekends. The largest garages were given to the most successful teams.

The penalty for exceeding the limit of eight engines per car per season has also been modified to ensure that any car going beyond the limit of two engines in a single Grand Prix weekend receives a ten-place grid penalty for the GP in question as well as for the following event.

Other limitations concern aerodynamic testing. There were eight days available in 2009, reduced to six in 2010. There is now the possibility to substitute one of these days for four hours of wind tunnel testing spread over a 24-hour period.

The revised sporting regulations are also confirmed. With 26 single-seaters, eight cars will be eliminated each time from the first two parts of qualifying (Q1 and Q2). The number was five until this year.