The FIA has blocked McLaren’s planned tyre test with Pirelli in the coming weeks after rival outfits complained the venue wasn’t appropriate at this stage of the championship.
Pirelli was granted permission to test with certain teams following the Mercedes ‘secret’ test debacle earlier this year. However it was on the grounds they used a two-year old car.
McLaren were set to provide such a car – as both Ferrari and Red Bull have already done this season – but the location of the 1,000km test, which was set to take place at the Austin circuit in Texas, has caused the FIA to step in and call it off.
The reason is because the Formula 1 circus has yet to race in Austin this year and, as Christian Horner explained, they could gain crucial information to help them come race weekend.
“I would have thought it makes more sense to be held post an event rather than pre and event,” he said in Korea. “The way that Formula 1 is nowadays, to run any car – even a two-year-old car – you are going to learn something, whether it is just about track conditions.
“Whereas after the circuit has been used, it doesn’t have a direct impact on that year’s championship. It is far more palatable and sensible for it to happen post an event.”
