The now not-so Young Driver Test will see Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa take part.
The three-day event that will take place from the 17th to 19th of July has been morphed into a tyre test that race drivers can take part in. Teams are open to use young drivers if they wish but it is expected that most will follow the lead of Ferrari.
Last year Davide Rigon - who is part of their driver development program - took part in the young driver test at Magny-Cours but now it has been revealed that any hopes of him returning to the car at Silverstone are fading.
But the test will be based on safety after four high-speed tyre failures at last weekends British Grand Prix. The FIA reacted quickly to the crisis and put forward plans to help Pirelli test more and get to the bottom of the tyre failures, to ensure that all drivers, team members, marshals and spectators are safe.
Speaking on the news that race drivers can be permitted to test if chosen, Ferrari's Sporting Director Massimo Rivola said: "Obviously, this test will be carried out with the actual race drivers, as there would be no sense in trying something new with the youngsters at the wheel, who do not have the necessary experience to provide the required feedback."
So it's young drivers out and the two race drivers in. Alonso has already raised a number of concerns over what happened at Silverstone on Sunday, saying: "We experienced things we never want to see again. It also could have been a lot worse - marshals, fans or a driver could have been killed."
The severity of the incident was also outlined by Christian Horner who believes Alonso came close to being a victim after he had to avoid the flying debris of Sergio Perez as his left-rear tyre exploded on the Hangar Straight: Make no mistake, Fernando Alonso is someone very lucky to be able to go home."
Romain Grosjean is also expected to be used in the test by Lotus after he told France Sport 24 "Apparently I could have a lot of work to do in the young driver test. Nobody wants to see tyres blowing so I know everyone in the sport is working with Pirelli to fix it."
Mercedes are banned from the test due to the ruling of the International Tribunal last month but Toto Wolff hinted that should the test be extended to a fourth day, they may push to attend: "Now we're being punished more, because the other teams can use their proper drivers, but we accept it for the purposes of safety. But if there is a fourth test day, we will fight to have this day," he told Germany's Bild newspaper.
Pirelli announced earlier in the week what the potential causes of the failures were from their investigations and what they are planning to do in the future which is to re-introduce the Kevlar belted tyres this weekend and have a whole new set of compounds for Hungary.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Last year Davide Rigon - who is part of their driver development program - took part in the young driver test at Magny-Cours but now it has been revealed that any hopes of him returning to the car at Silverstone are fading.
But the test will be based on safety after four high-speed tyre failures at last weekends British Grand Prix. The FIA reacted quickly to the crisis and put forward plans to help Pirelli test more and get to the bottom of the tyre failures, to ensure that all drivers, team members, marshals and spectators are safe.
Speaking on the news that race drivers can be permitted to test if chosen, Ferrari's Sporting Director Massimo Rivola said: "Obviously, this test will be carried out with the actual race drivers, as there would be no sense in trying something new with the youngsters at the wheel, who do not have the necessary experience to provide the required feedback."
So it's young drivers out and the two race drivers in. Alonso has already raised a number of concerns over what happened at Silverstone on Sunday, saying: "We experienced things we never want to see again. It also could have been a lot worse - marshals, fans or a driver could have been killed."
The severity of the incident was also outlined by Christian Horner who believes Alonso came close to being a victim after he had to avoid the flying debris of Sergio Perez as his left-rear tyre exploded on the Hangar Straight: Make no mistake, Fernando Alonso is someone very lucky to be able to go home."
Romain Grosjean is also expected to be used in the test by Lotus after he told France Sport 24 "Apparently I could have a lot of work to do in the young driver test. Nobody wants to see tyres blowing so I know everyone in the sport is working with Pirelli to fix it."
Mercedes are banned from the test due to the ruling of the International Tribunal last month but Toto Wolff hinted that should the test be extended to a fourth day, they may push to attend: "Now we're being punished more, because the other teams can use their proper drivers, but we accept it for the purposes of safety. But if there is a fourth test day, we will fight to have this day," he told Germany's Bild newspaper.
Pirelli announced earlier in the week what the potential causes of the failures were from their investigations and what they are planning to do in the future which is to re-introduce the Kevlar belted tyres this weekend and have a whole new set of compounds for Hungary.
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