In Season Test 1: Mugello, Italy - 01 to 03 May 2012

[astracrazy]

HRT not at the test which is a surprise. I would have thought all the time they lost in pre-season this would be something to take advantage of...

[MrBlacky]

They have no money. Wahy are they still in Formula 1.

[raymondu999]

Why couldn't they have "sold" the sessions though?

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I think everyone will. Otherwise what's to test? I doubt they'd use 24 hours worth of track time solely for the purpose of messing with setup and tyre sweetspots.

Yeah I think everyone will bring updates, I just don't think we'll see the leaders gaining 0.4s in Mugello or Spain. Again, they're about at the limit of how much they can develop the car to significantly reduce laptimes.

[Nando]

They have no money. Wahy are they still in Formula 1.

I´m still asking myself the same question...

It´s obvious that even though Formula 1 has never been this cheap in modern days they still don´t have the capital to fully participate.

I find it a bit of a joke but maybe i´ll eat my words in 15 years.

[donskar]

They have no money. Wahy are they still in Formula 1.

I´m still asking myself the same question...

It´s obvious that even though Formula 1 has never been this cheap in modern days they still don´t have the capital to fully participate.

I find it a bit of a joke but maybe i´ll eat my words in 15 years.

It is a joke, but not at all funny. Seems they could have "sold" the test to SOME driver and gained both testing time AND money. Sigh.

[Nando]

Sold the test?

[raymondu999]

Pay test drivers. Basically put an ad in Autosport, "fancy an F1 test? Mail us a cheque for 1 million euros and you have a full day of F1 testing!"

[Gerhardsa]

They have no money. Wahy are they still in Formula 1.

Makes you think why on earth Bernie would allow them in and not a company/team like Prodrive whom have tried for years.

[raymondu999]

Or any of the other teams that bid to get into F1 in 2010 for that matter. Lola, Prodrive, Aston Martin all made bids IIRC. Instead they had Stefan GP as a potential entry, and USF1. You have to wonder where the due diligence is happening.

[Nando]

Pay test drivers. Basically put an ad in Autosport, "fancy an F1 test? Mail us a cheque for 1 million euros and you have a full day of F1 testing!"

oh i see now... yea that would work

But are we sure the decision was 100% economical or did their recent move played apart as they said?

[raymondu999]

They say it's a move. I don't buy it's because of cash - because then they'd just let the test driver pay for it, and basically get free data from the test. Of course I don't know what kind of logistical budgets are required for such a test - but I'd imagine taking on 3 paid test days (paid by the test driver) will get them sorted? Again - I don't know.

[Polarbear]

You have to wonder what benefit HRT would have gained from attending Mugello...most likely they do not have any upgrades manufactured to test in Mugello, and no aero rigs or anything...
All they would be doing is potentially getting more data from the tyres...but HRT's plight is not down to tyre management, it is purely down to aero efficiency, and the cosworth engine...same with Marussia. I believe Marussia have lots of little bits to test in Mugello, which is why they are attending, and HRT are not...

Undoubtedly, getting the race and design team under one roof will be a massive help to HRT...it has helped Marussia and I expect to see HRT make similar gains in the future...

A wise move in my book.

[f1316]

They say it's a move. I don't buy it's because of cash - because then they'd just let the test driver pay for it, and basically get free data from the test. Of course I don't know what kind of logistical budgets are required for such a test - but I'd imagine taking on 3 paid test days (paid by the test driver) will get them sorted? Again - I don't know.

I think they're also basically saying they won't have the parts ready for the test. Therefore they don't want to take time away from the factory to run the a car with very little that's new, when they could be focusing all their resources in getting everything ready for Spain. I could be wrong, but that was my understanding.

Again, the fact that things aren't ready for a test they knew all about way ahead of time is still down to a lack of resources, but perhaps, if their move (which I know very little about) entails better facilities etc., it would be worth focusing on that with a longer term outlook. It's not as if, no matter what they brought to Mugello, they were ever going to catch up this year, so their focus has to be long term.

I hope that's the case, anyway.

[raymondu999]

Yeah that's the only plausible reason IMO.lack of anything to actually test.