McLaren could reportedly miss the first test after their 2014 car, the MP4-29, failed one or more mandatory FIA crash tests.
Under a regulation introduced two seasons ago, cars cannot partake in testing without having passed all 13 of the tests which ensure the chassis is safe enough to sustain a heavy impact.
Just last week, the Woking team confimed it would be present at the Jerez test between January 28th to 31st and is expected to launch its new car on January 26th.
Whilst the launch will likely go ahead without delay, the team is in a race against time to make the necessary changes to its chassis, get it tested again, homologated and then built in time to transport it to Spain.
When contacted, a McLaren spokesman said: “At this time of the year it’s normal for all teams to be pushing everything to the limit in an effort to extract the most performance, and crash tests are no different.”
It added: “McLaren will pass all the tests prior to track running.”
The spokesperson didn’t however confirm which test, with speculation they could skip Jerez and concentrate on preparing the MP4-29 for the second test in Bahrain.
