Red bull are against proposals to move one of next year's winter tests to Bahrain.
Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has been trying to persuade paddock figures to agree to the change, after it was announced that both 2017 winter tests would take place in Barcelona.
"We should all be trying to help Pirelli because we need warm weather," Lauda told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport in Malaysia over the weekend.
"I do not want to lose a few days with rain in Barcelona with the brand new cars," Lauda added. "And Pirelli needs reliable data. With 20 degrees track temperature, you do not learn anything."
Indeed, it could be argued that pre-season running for 2017 is more important than usual, given the totally new chassis rules and the bigger slick tyres.
In Malaysia, a letter aiming to at least call for voluntary testing in Bahrain, circulated by Lauda, was signed by Mercedes, Manor, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Force India and Haas. However, Williams, Sauber and the two Red Bull teams all objected.
Red Bull's Christian Horner explained: "60 per cent of the teams need to save money, but testing in Bahrain will cost significantly more.
"Maybe Mercedes would like to pay for it," he added.
Horner also spoke of the convenience of testing in Europe, where every team has a base, as opposed to Asia.
"We feel more comfortable being one and a half hours away than six," Horner admitted. "I think Pirelli will get enough hot testing in Abu Dhabi, and temperatures will already be 20 degrees in Barcelona in March."
Would you like to stay up to date with the latest Lewis Hamilton and Formula 1 news from GPtoday? Activate free push notifications and be the first to know!
0
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
8 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (0)
Login to reply