Monday post-Grand Prix to test young drivers?

Bernie Ecclestone suggested that Formula 1 could have an additional day of testing after the race to allow for in-season testing without increasing costs for the teams. Private testing has been banned since the start of the 2009 season, a controversial move that saw drivers like Jaime Alguersuari join the F1 grid without having ever driven before.

This upheaval has also been very controversial among the teams, as F1 test drivers find themselves unemployed. But Ecclestone saw that there was a problem with the current setup, particularly in recruiting new talents on the grid and leaving open the possibility of allowing teams to stay on the Monday following each Grand Prix to test young drivers.

“I’m sure that in the future, we will stay on Monday after the races. The cars are already there, as are the people. Costs will be kept within limits and we can give young drivers a chance,” said the F1 chief financial officer.

« The failure of the current system is that it is virtually impossible to test young drivers. » Bernie Ecclestone added: « It protects the established drivers, but it’s absolutely wrong. »

The idea of using Monday as a test session is a slight improvement compared to previous proposals to use the Friday race day as a test day. In 2010, this would leave Friday free practice for teams to work on race setups, which is much more logical.