AMuS: ‘Three test days on European soil, halving the number of days'

The pressure on the F1 mechanics increases every year as FOM decides, together with Liberty Media, that extra races have to be added to the calendar. In 2020 this was set to be Zandvoort and Vietnam and in 2021 we will also have a race in Saudi Arabia. That is why they are also looking for solutions to take the pressure off and they have probably found them.

According to Auto, Motor und Sport only three days of testing will be carried out in winter. The traditional winter test will consist of a single week, compared with two weeks last year. At that time, too, the drivers drove three days a week, but in the end that came down to six test days. That will be different next year.

Bahrain was the only other option

Rumours were also that F1 was going to choose to take Bahrain as its test site, as it is already on the route for the first race of the season in Australia. That plan will not go ahead, and according to AMuS, the winter tests will be held as normal in Barcelona. The teams will test on 2, 3 and 4 March. From Tuesday to Thursday and after that the teams will travel to Melbourne.

The choice for Barcelona is mainly a logistical one. The only advantage of Bahrain is that the weather is good, because in recent years the weather conditions often got in the way of the drivers in Spain. From a logistical point of view, the teams can get to Barcelona a lot easier and the staff also prefers shorter distances in case of emergency parts that need to be brought in. Also surrounding coronavirus, according to the teams it is better to stay within Europe as long as possible.