One and a half days of testing 'unfair' – Alonso

Fernando Alonso has criticised the current pre-season testing format as "unfair", with the drivers being heavily restricted in the amount of running they can complete before the Bahrain Grand Prix season-opener.

Pre-season testing gets underway this Wednesday at the Bahrain International Circuit and concludes on Friday afternoon, with each driver receiving roughly of one and a half days of testing.

Whilst the test is over three days, each team can only field one car per day. Because of this, only one driver is used at a time. Alonso doesn't understand the reasoning for this at a time when F1 is trying to become more entertaining for fans.

The two-time World Champion believes, under the current testing rules, it makes sense to increase the test to four days, so that each driver receives two days of running before embarking on the biggest calendar in the history of the sport.

Another option offered by the 42-year-old, is for each team to be allowed to run both cars simultaneously, and therefore, both drivers.

Alonso left baffled

"We have a very limited testing in Bahrain, which is, and by the way I can say now, I've been thinking all winter about this, how unfair is [it] that we have one day and a half to prepare a world championship,” Alonso told select media including RacingNews365.

“There's no other sport in the world…

“With all the money involved, and with all the marketing and the good things that we say about Formula 1, and being closer and closer to the fans, I cannot understand why we then go to Bahrain for four days, which could be two and two for [each of] the drivers.

“If you go to three, which is not even, which is an odd number, you cannot divide [fairly] between the drivers.

“And I don't know why we don't go with two cars.”