JANUARY 8, 2007

Malaysian test confirmed

As we reported in December, the Formula 1 teams are not going to waste time when the cars are out in Australia, despite the three-week gap between the Australian and Malaysian GPs. There is to be a three-day test at Sepang between March 27-29, which will help fill the gap between Melbourne on March 18 and Malaysia on April 8. Having a test in Malaysia makes some sense for the teams although it is quite likely that team members will still be flying backwards and forwards because otherwise members of the race teams will be away from home for more than a month because the Bahrain GP follows Malaysia immediately. Thus we would expect some crews to go home and test crews to be flown out.

Agreeing to hold a major three-day test may be a self-defeating idea for the teams in the long-term as the Formula One group is sure to argue that it is much the same as a Grand Prix from the point of view of expense and that it therefore makes much more sense in the future to have 20 events and thus generate income from the additional events rather than spending the money for the test and recouping nothing.