The agreement to make the pre-season 2017 at the Catalan circuit of Montmelo not like Mercedes, who has been on the side of Pirelli to try that the same are made in Bahrain or, in his absence, to another circuit of the Middle East.
For Pirelli, it is important to perform a test in warm conditions to make sure that the new tires perform optimally under the most extreme conditions, and if not, make the necessary changes in time to face the season with warranties.
But Red Bull, in the words of Christian Horner Motorsport, has displayed publicly the flag of the test winter in Barcelona, claiming that it is irresponsible from a financial point of view to force the teams with financial problems face a trip so expensive.
“My personal preference is that we should stay in Europe. Probably 65-75% of the grill is suffering with budgets with the finance. So to be more than an hour and a half from the headquarters, in a point in which you are developing your car with a new concept and in a time of year that in Spain -at the end of February and early march – is already rising the temperature, to me is irresponsible financially”.
The head of sports of Red Bull says that the only option that looks feasible for there to be a change of opinion is that Mercedes will pay for the transportation of the material to other teams and that, in any case, the tactic of pressure by the German team is out of place.
“unless there is a huge financial benefit, that I don’t think there will be at least that Mercedes are going to pay around the world the transportation to Bahrain, I think that is a little irresponsible, to be honest, to be dictating and harassing the equipment to do that test”.
Horner recalls that Red Bull is able to travel to Bahrain without any problems, but believes that, with the current testing program in Abu Dhabi, is more than enough to meet the demands of Pirelli.
“We are a team that can take to go to Bahrain, but I think that it is better to do the test in Barcelona. Because we’re going to test the Pirelli tyres in Abu Dhabi in a three-test, one collective in December. The tires for the first few races will be decided after that test, so I do not see the logic in making a huge unnecessary expense”.
The sporting regulations of the FIA sets out in its section 10.6 (d) that a test outside of the european continent can only take place if the teams passed by a majority, so that is not likely to occur without Pirelli or Mercedes to assume the economic costs derived from the travel of the teams that refuse.
Extract from the sporting regulations the FIA Formula 1 which contains the test outside Europe must be approved by a majority by the teams. Note: TCC is equivalent to Testing with current cars (Test cars current, of the current season).
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