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Does F1 need any more test days?

With a healthy total of 7,744 laps completed by all F1 teams across six days of running, and with reliability near-bulletproof, it seems the reduction in test days this year was barely noticable. With cost-cutting a key component of the 2021 regulations, could F1 get away with cutting back on its pre-season test days even further?

Luke Smith Mar 2, 2020, 2:37 PM

As is tradition following Formula 1's pre-season testing programme in Barcelona, the gap to Melbourne will be spent trying to make sense of the pecking order.

General consensus suggests Mercedes is the team to beat at the front, while the midfield gaggle remains hard to confidently predict, continuing from last year's tight battle.

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Author Luke Smith

Luke Smith is Autosport’s Formula 1 reporter. Luke has been working in F1 as a journalist since 2013, initially alongside a History degree at University College London. Luke served as the lead F1 writer at American broadcaster NBC Sports from 2013-17 before spending two years as the F1 Editor for Crash.net. Luke joined Autosport for the 2020 season.

Luke is also a contributor to The New York Times for its F1 special reports, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and CNBC, as well as hosting FIA press conferences. Outside of F1, Luke is a fan of sports and music, with an ever-growing vinyl collection, and has being bitten by the running bug in recent years. He also runs a surprisingly popular blog reviewing the often-terrible media centre coffee from his F1 travels.