The Friday "Test" Sessions: Art Imitating Life

The rules were introduced to help F1 become much more economical, and to create a very competitive atmosphere. 

The teams agreed to the implementation of the rules, and in the beginning of the season their introduction was not questioned.  Testing, however, has been an integral part of the actual sport, and its presence in F1 guaranteed that if engineers of a specific F1 car had chosen to follow the “wrong” design avenue those “errors” could be reversed.

Following a different avenue of design can mean a difference between winning a championship and losing it, and while it is possible to narrow the gaps between those two types of teams, an F1 team needs some kind of “laboratory” or testing ground.   

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used for quite some time, but this technological solution can not replicate exactly how a specific design solution on a car will affect the car’s performance, and neither can computer simulations, or rolling roads.  In reality running actual tests on the cars at tracks can not be replaced.

Yes the tests are expensive, and yes each Grand Prix weekend features several practice sessions that can be used as actual test sessions, but a team can not really run lap after lap featuring new and different innovation with hopes that proper data will be collected to support the introduction of a specific new design solution. 

Practice sessions at these races are run to prepare the car for that very race, not for the next few grand prix. 

F1 teams need test sessions to give young talent an opportunity to gain valuable experience; more importantly they need test sessions throughout the season to help bridge the gap between the front runners and those in the back. 

Offering teams the opportunity to run cars with new innovations would help a team like Renault to figure out if the “trick-diffuser” will work before transporting it to the race where it fails and causes sufficient damage to the car on a Friday session and hence prevent the team from giving Fernando Alonso the opportunity to prepare his car for the Qualifying session and race.

Taking Fernando Alonso out of the equation for the Friday session lowers Renault’s exposure, hence affecting fan presence in the stands, and sponsors do not have an opportunity to have their advertisement presented, hence resulting in potential income loss. 

The lack of an opportunity to test the introduction of new items prior to a grand prix also affects the level of competition and viewer ship figures.  Brawn GP and Red Bull have designed superior cars to really anyone on the grid; matching their performance is possible and would be in the best interests of the sport. 

While some hardcore fans will continue watching the sport even after the championship is decided just past midseason, quiet a lot of fans will hardly see the point of rising each morning to watch yet another blow-out victory. 

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