Friday testing 'unfair advantage' say teams

The three teams benefit from being able to choose their tyre type immediately after the two-hour Friday testing session which has been introduced this season, while the other teams will have to make a decision not knowing the track conditions and latest tyre developments.

The FIA, the sport's governing body, is standing by its decision to force teams not participating in the Friday session to pick their compound before scrutineering on Thursday, claiming that the benefit was a trade-off for being limited to just 10 test days during the season.

"The testing on Friday was supposed to be a cost-cutting device," said one team boss, "not a means for Renault to work its way through a lot of different tyre constructions before making its choice mid-morning."

Renault's team boss Flavion Briatore meanwhile is unrepentant pointing out that all the teams had the choice to select the Friday testing option: "We have two hour's testing at the place you race, so for tyre choice it is much better," he said. "A lot of people did not think about doing this because they thought it was for the low budget teams."