The 2013 Young Drivers Test Programme
The tests for young drivers will begin tomorrow at Silverstone for three days, an opportunity to assess the various drivers that the teams will be running.
The F1 teams have unveiled the names of the drivers who will run during the three days of young driver testing at Silverstone, an opportunity to take a look at the upcoming schedule for the days of July 17, 18, and 19.
Let’s start with the glamorous touch of these trials with the presence of a woman on board an F1, Susie Wolff. The former DTM driver and current development driver for the Williams team will have the opportunity to drive the FW35 for an entire day. The Scot expressed her delight at this chance: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for me, so now it’s up to me to prepare to do my best for this day. It’s going to be a huge challenge, but the most important thing is to do a solid and consistent job and give good feedback to the team to prove that I’m up to the level to take part in a day like this.”
It should be noted that at Williams, Daniel Juncadella will also drive for a day at Silverstone just like Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan will not be the only main driver on track; we will also see Kimi Räikkönen, Paul di Resta, Adrian Sutil, Nico Hülkenberg, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Daniel Ricciardo, who will drive for Toro Rosso … and Red Bull (a sign for 2014?). On the Sahara Force India team side, the program is not yet clearly defined even though three drivers have been chosen. Within Scuderia Ferrari, Fernando Alonso will not drive at Silverstone, and Massa will only drive for half a day.
Mercedes will obviously not be present at Silverstone following its ban from these tests after holding three days of tire testing with its 2013 car and Pirelli.
On the regulatory side, the situation has slightly changed with the increase from 100 to 105 sets of tires usable by F1 teams this season. In addition to these 5 extra sets, Pirelli will bring 7 sets – three hard, two medium, and two hard prototypes – for the young driver tests taking place at Silverstone.
The program for the 2013 F1 young drivers’ test:
| Wednesday, July 17, 2013 | Thursday, July 18, 2013 | Friday, July 19, 2013 | |
| Red Bull | Felix da Costa / Ricciardo | Felix da Costa / Webber | Sainz Jr / Vettel |
| Ferrari | Davide Rigon | Davide Rigon | Massa / Rigon |
| Lotus | Nicolas Prost | Davide Valsecchi | Kimi Räikkönen |
| Mercedes | – | – | – |
| McLaren | Kevin Magnussen | Oliver Turvey | Gary Paffett |
| Force India * | Paul di Resta / Adrian Sutil / James Calado | ||
| Sauber | Robin Frijns | Frijns / Hülkenberg | Kimiya Sato |
| Williams | Daniel Juncadella | Pastor Maldonado | Susie Wolff |
| Toro Rosso | Johnny Cecotto Jr | Sainz Jr / Ricciardo | Vergne / Kvyat |
| Caterham | Alexander Rossi | Will Stevens | Pic / Van der Garde |
| Marussia | Tio Ellinas / Max Chilton | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Gonzalez / Jules Bianchi |
*: Force India will have di Resta, Sutil, and Calado drive, but the exact schedule for each day will only be announced each morning.
Update – 17/07/2013 22:50: Daniel Ricciardo will replace Mark Webber on Thursday at the wheel of Red Bull, and Nicolas Prost will replace Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus on Friday. As for Williams, Pastor Maldonado will drive on Thursday morning and Daniel Juncadella in the afternoon.
