F1 star BLASTS 'unfair' pre-season testing

Alonso, Aston Martin, Verstappen, Red Bull, 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 star BLASTS 'unfair' pre-season testing

Flaws pointed out over pre-season testing just days before the start of the 2024 F1 campaign

GPFans Staff

Monday 19 February 2024 12:57 Updated: 21:52

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Double world champion Fernando Alonso has panned the lack of testing time the teams are given before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The winter break for F1 teams has been relatively short, with three months of respite between the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP on November 26th and the 2024 Bahrain GP on March 2nd.

Before racing commences, a three-day test session will take place in Bahrain, beginning on February 21st and ending on the 23rd.

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It means drivers will get over a day and a half of testing in their new cars under their belts before racing begins a week later in Bahrain.

The reason behind testing and racing in Bahrain is to keep costs in order and minimise travel before the first race.

F1 cars will be testing in Bahrain at Sakhir before the start of the season

Gerhard Berger testing for McLaren at Estoril, a former testing venue favourite

Alonso slams lack of testing

As early as 2022, the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona hosted pre-season testing, with fans allowed to attend and buy paddock passes, helping them secure access to the drivers and teams.

Previously, most of the teams' pre-season testing programme was conducted in Southern Europe due to the region's excellent weather in January and February. The good weather and excellent facilities meant circuits such as Jerez in Spain and Estoril in Portugal became popular venues in the 1990s and 2000s for F1 teams to extensively test their new cars.

"We have very limited testing in Bahrain," Alonso said. "I've been thinking all winter about this, how unfair it is that we only have one day and a half to prepare [for] a world championship.

"There is no other sport in the world, with all the money involved and with all the marketing and the good things that we say about Formula 1 and being closer and closer to the fans, [where that happens].

"I cannot understand why we then go to Bahrain for four days, which could be two and two for the drivers. If you go to three, which is not even, which is an odd number, you cannot divide between the drivers.

"And I don't know why we don't go with two cars? Because we are already in Bahrain, and we race the following week."

Fernando Alonso Bahrain Grand Prix