Should Formula One Have More Testing?

During the Turkish Grand Prix weekend, FIA President Jean Todt suggested the in—season testing ban should be relaxed. Some misinterpreted his words as meaning there may be a return to unlimited testing. This won’t happen because the cost of pounding around lap after lap is far too high.

Traditionally, testing was all about developing the car. Formula One teams constantly produce updated components and testing was an opportunity to thoroughly understand the impact these new pieces had on the overall performance of the car before they were risked in a competitive environment.

This aspect of testing has been shifted to race weekends. It is now quite normal to see teams running on a Friday with numerous updated components and flo–vis paint. In the past, this would only be done on a more desperate occasion because when a team spends Friday understanding new components, they are sacrificing vital set—up time for the upcoming qualifying session and the race.

But the Formula One teams have found that reliability has increased dramatically over the past few years. Whether this is related to the necessarily more thorough design and production processes, or whether it is due to better technology in these processes is open to debate.

The controversy surrounding the lack of testing isn’t related to the development of the cars. The lack of testing is a problem because it reduces the ability of the teams to give meaningful seat time to young drivers. Any sport thrives on new talent breaking through.

It keeps fans interested and it generates headlines, especially when a driver comes from a particular country. But the lack of testing means new drivers are seen as more of a gamble.

But the number of drivers making their Formula One debut over the past few seasons hasn’t tailed off significantly at all. The testing ban was put in place in 2009, but in 2010 and 2011 as many or more drivers (5) made their Grand Prix debut’s as in nine of the past eighteen seasons.

So what is Jean Todt’s argument for more testing? The best drivers are still making their way into Formula One. The cars are astonishingly reliable, with every starter finishing the European Grand Prix a fortnight ago. The facts suggest testing simply isn’t needed.