Formula One teams are weighing up their options for a return of in-season testing next year, with the possibility of dropping a pre-season test and replacing it with a week around the start of the European season.
In-season testing was banned in 2009 in order to cut costs, but several teams have admitted they would like to see a return next year. On Friday at Spa-Francorchamps Christian Horner revealed that the teams are currently discussing options with the possibility of bringing the end-of-season young driver test within the calendar as well.
"What all the teams are keen to avoid is to re-introduce a test team," Horner said. "So what is currently being appraised, effectively, is to look at lessening the amount of pre-season testing by one test and making that an in-season test as well as making the young driver test effectively an in-season test as well. That's under debate within the team managers group at the moment."
Ross Brawn agreed that costs must be kept under control and stay within the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA).
"The threshold is not to have to create a new testing team," he said. "We must be able to do whatever we want to achieve with the group of people we have and with RRA and the other restrictions we have, we need to make sure we can achieve it, and next year's calendar is creating an ideal opportunity to have one test perhaps at the start or just after the start of the European season which I think would fit very well with everybody, getting the bugs sorted out that they inevitably have in the first few races."
One option being discussed is to remain at a circuit following a grand prix weekend and continue to test the following week.
"I think that a lot of different permutations have been thought about and discussed," Horner added. "One of the options to be looked at is to stay on at an existing venue after an event so maybe not quite on a Monday but as we're doing with the Abu Dhabi young driver test this year - a day off, obviously the cars have to be rebuilt and then to effectively be able to run in that week with effectively the same staff, taking away the necessity of a test team, so that's something that's under consideration and something that might be brought in next year."
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said it would be useful from a tyre point of view to test on a circuit the teams know well.
"I think that a lot of different permutations have been thought about and discussed," he said. "One of the options to be looked at is to stay on at an existing venue after an event so maybe not quite on a Monday but as we're doing with the Abu Dhabi Young Drivers' Test this year - a day off, obviously the cars have to be rebuilt and then to effectively be able to run in that week with effectively the same staff, taking away the necessity of a test team, so that's something that's under consideration and something that might be brought in next year."
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