Testing 'rethink' called for

That is the view of FIA president Max Mosley, who has sat back and observed the rows between Ferrari and the other nine teams over a way of limiting testing. The FIA does not get involved in limiting testing because it is only governed by a gentleman's agreement between the teams.

But Mosley, who has made it clear that he perhaps favours the Ferrari route of limiting mileage rather than the day limit agreed by the nine teams, suggests that both options may be wrong - and that the real way forward is to make sure testing itself does not cost as much money.

"What Ferrari is saying is that the other teams want 30 days to test the car, but this means you have got to turn up to a test with three cars, in case one breaks, and two crews so that one works on the two cars and the other works on them overnight," said Mosley.

"On top of that, if there is the slightest hint of rain you really have to sit there doing nothing because the risk is you burn up one of your magic days.

"Ferrari say this is massively uneconomical compared to turning up with one car on a mileage basis. I said of course you will think that, you have got a test track on your doorstep, and another one down the road,

"But the only reason you require so many people to work at a test is because you need so many to operate the car. Should you really need six people to start the engine? The rational person would say no."

Mosley believes that the way forward to get consensus on testing is not to limit the amount of actual running, but to ensure that testing costs are reduced by limiting the number of personnel it takes to work on a car.

"I have to said to the teams, with mileage or days, aren't we looking at the wrong question," added Mosley. "It is not how much it costs per kilometre to run the car, but how many people does it need to operate the car. Both those can be reduced dramatically.

"I think when we look at any saving of money in F1, anything which saves money that the public cannot see, there is no argument against it."