It’s expected that ten of the twelve teams will opt to attend the Silverstone Young Driver Test, rather than the optional Abu Dhabi test.
Teams will have a choice between the two venues, the former taking place in mid-July after the British GP, whilst the latter will take place in November, following the Abu Dhabi weekend.
With several back-to-back events at the tail end of the calendar, the Silverstone test is preferred by most, with only Red Bull and Toro Rosso likely to opt for Abu Dhabi.
Pirelli’s motorsport director, Paul Hembery, backed up the speculation after revealing that two teams would prefer to test later in the year.
“We have 12 partners and we have to go along with what the partners want,” he said. “Ten of them would appear to want to go to Silverstone, and two of them to Abu Dhabi – so it means we will not be taking any of the new products to the young driver tests.
“We have found in the past the young driver test is of limited use for a variety of reasons. The teams at the last young driver test were trying a lot of items for next season, and trying new drivers, so while it gave us indicative results, it was of overall very limited value.”
