McLaren F1 boss sceptical over Ferrari's mule car tyre test stance
McLaren Formula 1 team CEO Zak Brown has questioned why Ferrari is not taking part in the mule car testing programme for Pirelli's 18 inch tyres


Mercedes, McLaren and Renault have all agreed to convert a 2018 chassis to do two days of testing apiece with the new 18 inch rims and tyres later this season.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said in Spain that his team does not have the time or resources to commit to the testing this year, but is likely to get involved in the second round of mule car running in 2020 - when more teams are expected to take part.
Brown was sceptical about Ferrari's reasoning.
"My guess is that they probably have the time and the resources to do it, but have other reasons why they don't want to do it," said Brown when asked about the topic by Autosport.
"We want to contribute to the sport, and also learn about the tyres."
Brown conceded that while being involved in the tests will be useful, it will not necessarily be a significant advantage for the three teams taking part.
"Ultimately if you run it, the information is going to be shared," he added.
"So I don't know if it will give us a headstart, but it is certainly not going to hurt.
"All data and information and experience is good. But I don't think it will give us or the teams doing the testing some big advantage."
Racing Point technical director Andy Green said his team preferred to opt out and wait for the 2020 mule car testing, when the new tyres will be closer to their final spec.
"We don't have the capability to do it," said Green when asked about the test programme by Autosport.
"Is it a big advantage for them? I think it was a disadvantage last time [ahead of the 2017 rule change - pictured below], not doing it.

"Is it going to be next time? I don't know. I hope not, but we're also quite happy to do the learning when the specification has been finalised.
"You could end up confusing yourself [with the prototype testing], which is why we're comfortable taking the actual tyres that we're going to run, and learning from those.
"The bigger teams have probably got enough knowledge to sieve out bad data and just focus on the important stuff."
But he acknowledged that 2021 will represent a more significant change than in 2017, when tyres were made wider alongside that year's aerodynamic rule changes.
"Because of the change in tyres, it would appear to be much bigger than previously - not just a change in geometry, but a change in characteristic with no blankets, that's a big thing," Green said.
He added that even with Pirelli contributing to costs, mule car running would be an expensive exercise.
"It's a significant programme, the change in architecture that's required," said Green.
"You're probably looking at four or five people. It's in the hundreds of thousands."

Horner: Verstappen "phenomenal" since stepping up gear after Monaco
Vital city vote could save Interlagos's Brazilian Grand Prix hopes

Latest news
Castroneves: “Too early” to think about potential replacement by Blomqvist
Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves says it’s too soon to consider Meyer Shank Racing might want to swap him to the IMSA squad and bring Tom Blomqvist over to IndyCar.
Why some DTM teams take out crash insurance but others gamble
The 2022 DTM season featured several major pile-ups and accidents, costing teams several hundred thousands in repair costs. While some had insured cars against such damage, others weren’t so well prepared…
Ricciardo: Australian GP buzz will tell me a lot about F1 comeback
Red Bull third driver Daniel Ricciardo says attending his home grand prix in Melbourne will likely tell him whether he wants to make a full-time comeback to Formula 1 or not.
Kirkwood admits he overdrove as an IndyCar rookie
Kyle Kirkwood admits he was overdriving at AJ Foyt Racing in 2022 and is expecting to rebuild his reputation at Andretti Autosport.
The pioneering F1 car that preceded Lotus’s terminal decline
In the hands of Ayrton Senna the actively suspended 99T would be the last F1 race-winning Lotus but, as STUART CODLING reveals, it was a complicated machine that caused more problems than it solved
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.