The first pre-season test of 2018 will not be extended into Friday despite the likelihood of inclement weather conditions on Wednesday. The teams discussed the possibility of extending the test for an extra day on Monday and Tuesday, but the idea failed to gain the required unanimous support.
Low track temperatures, rain and snow have already hindered the teams’ test programmes in the opening pre-season test of 2018. Further low temperatures and snow are in the Wednesday forecast for the third day of testing. This is likely to limit the amount of running in the day and put teams behind schedule in the run up to the season opener in Australia.
The teams met on Monday to discuss the possibility of extending the test into Friday, but Williams has the circuit booked for their filming day on Friday and Ferrari has booked the circuit on Saturday for the same purpose. After failing to meet an agreement on Monday, further talks continued Tuesday.
The proposal to extend the test was originally put forward by McLaren, but it required unanimous support from all ten of the teams. One team failed to support the plan, meaning that the test will not be extended. The team that failed to support the decision is believed to be Williams.
The circuit remains available on Monday before the start of the second test. It’s still possible for an extra test day to be added on that day before the second pre-season test.
