DECEMBER 16, 2002

FIA confirms two-hour tests on Fridays

The FIA has confirmed that at least three teams have agreed to restrict their testing to just 10 days between March and October 2003 in exchange for the opportunity to run an unlimited number of cars in a two-hour session on Friday morning at each Grand Prix. The FIA did not say which teams are involved but it is believed that there are more than three teams who have signed up for the scheme. It is virtually certain that Minardi and Jordan are two of them. We have also heard that British American Racing may have agreed to the idea but this is yet to be confirmed.

Teams say that they are committed to work together to cut costs in F1 but few of them the bigger operations have shown any sign of doing anything about this commitment.