LESS than a month to go for the opening round of the 2012 Formula1 World Championship and there is lots happening in the buildup already, both on and off-track.
Teams wrapped up pre-season testing in Barcelona last week (Friday) which means that 8 out of a possible 12 days of testing are over for most teams. Testing is important to Formula1 and there is more to testing this year.
Firstly, after being banned in the past few seasons, in-season testing is back. Teams will test from 1st to 3rd May at the Mugello circuit between the Bahrain and Spanish GPs. In-season testing was needed for many reasons, but it would result in a direct increase in costs and hence was banned. So why was something that is needed in the sport banned?
Testing is to Formula1 what net-practice is to cricket. While that analogy is good to explain the importance of testing to the sport, it of course doesn’t reflect the incremental costs. In the early 2000s, testing was not restricted and most teams had a separate ‘test team’ that would test their race cars pre and during each season. In fact, they also had separate ‘race’ and ‘test’ chassis during those days. This created a huge disparity in performance between the teams and performance became a function of how much a team was able to spend and test extra.
So when the FIA, FOTA and all other bodies involved stepped in to control costs, testing was one of the few important aspects of the sport that started being regulated. First, in-season testing was banned and second, pre-season testing was regulated to only 15 days and that too only on FIA approved dates and circuits. While this controlled costs that teams would spend on testing, a ban on in-season testing turned out to be a not so popular decision. Why?
Imagine this scenario: team A would have started work on their 2012 car by mid-2011. Their months of hard work would be allowed to ‘test’ only in February and March during the pre-season tests that too with limited 12 days of track time. Now should the team realize that their car needs major work to ensure it is reliable and quick at the same time and be in a position to score points, lack of in-season testing opportunities would limit their chances of improving their car through the season. So in-effect, what could happen is that team A would have spent millions developing a slow car and for lack of testing opportunities would find it difficult to make it go any quicker and score points through the season resulting in a near dud investment!
Now that in-season testing is back on the calendar, one would be wondering if this would lead to an increase in costs and maybe the answer to that is obvious too. However, the FIA have played it smart. In the previous seasons, pre-season testing would be allowed for 15 days. However, for 2012, they have reduced pre-season testing to 12 days and the balance 3 days have been classified as in-season testing days. So effectively the operative costs for the teams still remain the same!
The second is the opportunity for teams to exchange an FIA scheduled test day for a private one.
Mercedes were the first one to do so when they opted to test for a day less in Jerez and use that as an extra day in Barcelona. Red Bull and Ferrari have followed suit by wrapping up their Barcelona test program a day early. This change should help teams structure and optimize their pre-season programs better.
Lotus F1 team who aborted their Barcelona test program due to a chassis related problem could well offer a live example to us in 2012 to see if the new regulations offer teams a chance to bounce back after a not-so-successful pre-season program. I am in favour of these changes as they drive efficiency amongst all teams, control costs and also offer them a second chance to resurrect their season!
On the off-track front, there are a few reasons for Indian F1 fans to cheer. First, the Sahara Force India F1 team has a new and one of the most exciting driver line-ups for 2012 in Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg. The Indian-owned team will be entering its 5th full season in Formula1 and is aiming for an ambitious 5th place with its VJM05.
Second, Narain Karthikeyan is back again with the Hispania Racing Team and this time they (he and HRT) claim that it is for the full season. Hopefully this stays true and if it does, it should help Narain focus on his racing and produce consistent results rather than bother about saving his seat! Third and most recent announcement of Tata joining Formula1 as its ‘official connectivity provider and technology supplier’, a deal which will help Formula1 accumulate, transfer and manage its content faster and more efficiently across its 20 races.
And while Indian brands are all ga-ga about International Motorsport and Formula1, I wonder when would they step forward and show similar interest in Indian Motorsport!
