Briatore supports Friday testing

Renault team principal Flavio Briatore believes that testing through the year should be banned and all the teams would be better off taking the Friday test at race weekends. Renault caused a few raised eyebrows when it took the Friday option as it ...

Renault team principal Flavio Briatore believes that testing through the year should be banned and all the teams would be better off taking the Friday test at race weekends. Renault caused a few raised eyebrows when it took the Friday option as it was considered mainly a cost-cutting exercise for the smaller teams. However, it soon became clear that the advantages of testing on the race-track prior to the weekend were more than some had considered.

Flavio Briatore.

Photo by Renault F1.

Renault, along with Jaguar, Minardi and Jordan, has the advantage of knowing track conditions, can make an informed tyre choice and give the drivers a chance to acclimatize to the circuit. This can be a big advantage at tracks where no testing is allowed, such as next weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit.

Briatore would like to see everyone taking the Friday option and perhaps even ban testing through the year and add Thursday to the weekend session. "I believe if we are racing, doing two hours more in the morning, you have time to set up the car better and evaluate the tyres better and tyres are very important," said Briatore, according to the BBC.

"Then we still have 20 days testing. It's also good especially as Fernando (Alonso) is in the first year with us. The two hours every Friday morning makes a big difference to him. If everybody did this it would be so much better for F1. Maybe we should do Thursday as well."

"We're here already, the expenses, the hotels, are paid. I think testing should be banned and we should just do Thursday and Friday. For everybody it would be the same, I don't see the reason to run like mad and spend a lot of money for no reason."

The idea makes sense but is unlikely to win approval from the bigger teams. Ferrari, for example, often spends four or five days a week testing, with sometimes three or four cars at different circuits. It's unlikely it would want to curtail such extensive test programmes. Those who did opt for Friday testing have all praised the idea and can't understand why so few other teams chose to be included.