Christian Horner is open to the idea of cutting Formula 1 pre-season testing even further from the already-reduced three days. A single three-day event is taking place in Bahrain for 2023, with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen ending Day 1 fastest over the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. Alonso is one of the drivers who has criticised the lack of testing available, but Horner feels that two days of testing could even be enough.
Horner on less testing
"Look at the reliability we've had [on Thursday morning], we had one red flag very early on and that rectified pretty quickly. These regulations are pretty stable and one could even argue the opposite," Horner said when asked by RacingNews365.com if a three-day test with two cars was a possibility. "When you look at the reliability and so on, you could almost say, with the amount of races that promoters are looking to cram in now, why not go to two days of testing and then go racing? "Because if that does create a little bit of a more mixed field at the beginning of the year, is that such a bad thing, and you've enough of the year [left] to sort it out. "But 2026 is a very different prospect, because everything is new in terms of the concepts of engine and chassis, but with the current engines, the current regulations, I think three days is ample [enough], plus what we discussed in the F1 Commission about filming days."
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While Horner was in favour of a cut in testing days, rival bosses Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur were not as embracing of the idea or that of having two cars. "I think we have a good plan going forward to stay where we are, and maybe add a bit of flexibility with the filming days," Wolff said. "I don't think we should increase costs by just having a second car or doing more days. I think we should give young drivers some time in the car, but obviously that is not easy. "If we were to stay where we are, that's good for us." New Ferrari boss Vasseur added that he felt going to two cars for testing made "sense". "I think that this season is the continuity of the previous one and I am not sure that it makes sense to double the mileage in the winter period," he added. "Probably for the new regulations, we will come back to something a bit more reduced in terms of testing to prepare for 2026 in the best condition, but for 2023, I think it is okay."
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