Three teams modify 2012 pre-season programmes
Feb.24 (GMM) With one group test and three weeks until Melbourne, Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus have modified their pre-season programme.
According to widespread media reports, and confirmed by the top teams, Red Bull and Ferrari will delay their Barcelona running next week by a day.
They will therefore test between Friday and Monday rather than Thursday through Sunday.
It is believed they argued successfully to their competitors, who needed to unanimously green-light the change, that Mercedes set the precedent by leaving Jerez one day early recently in order to run alone on the day before this week's Barcelona test.
Speculation indicates that Ferrari wants the one-day delay in order to gain more time to manufacture parts.
Following a difficult start to the life of the Italian team's radical new F2012 car, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone this week said Ferrari "know what the problem is".
"It's not a (difficult) problem to fix," he told reporters, "so I think you're going to find that they are going to fix it quite shortly."
Red Bull, meanwhile, wants some quieter running in order to test parts that have been held back by Adrian Newey's technical team, according to rumours.
"They haven't shown everything yet," thinks Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, according to Bild newspaper.
And Lotus will almost certainly be granted an extra test day in addition to next week's four days of Barcelona running, after the former Renault team pulled out this week after discovering a serious chassis problem.
"This request will probably be accepted by the other teams," Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn confirmed to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Where will Kevin Magnussen rank among the Project 91 NASCAR drivers?
Kimi Raikkonen goes viral with blunt two-word response to throwback F1 post
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
The error that led to Lewis Hamilton's Hungarian GP penalty
Sky F1 pundit baffled by Lewis Hamilton Hungarian GP penalty
Why Charles Leclerc’s battle of the brakes has left him trailing Lewis Hamilton
Kyle Larson crashes out of Brickyard 400, finishing last
Winners and losers from F1's heated Hungarian Grand Prix
The error that led to Lewis Hamilton's Hungarian GP penalty
Fronts on the left, rears on the right! Massive blunder hampers Thiim
How Lando Norris shrugged off his first-lap error to deliver on McLaren's Hungarian GP pace
When plucky private entrants could afford to go GP racing, and how F1 changed with the rise of commercialisation
What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Aston Martin's heavily updated AMR26 breaks cover in Hungary pitlane
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments