Seven reserve drivers to run in test

2014 F1 season

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Seven reserve drivers will get a chance to run during the second in-season test of 2014 which begins at the Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow.

The first day of the test will see former Caterham team mates Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde in action for Lotus and Sauber respectively, while Sebastian Buemi will be driving Red Bull’s RB10.

On Wednesday Susie Wolff will drive for Williams as she prepares for her first appearance at a race weekend practice session at the British Grand Prix.

She will be joined by fellow junior drivers Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren), Daniel Juncadella (Force India) and Robin Frijns (Caterham).

Four of the teams will give over a single of their days’ running to conducting tyre tests for Pirelli. They will be Sauber and Toro Rosso on Tuesday, and McLaren and Force India on Wednesday.

Mercedes have also confirmed they will test a modified exhaust designed to enhance the noise produced by the quieter 2014 engines.

Ferrari are yet to confirm their driver line-up for the Spanish test. Here are the confirmed drivers so far:

TeamTuesday 13thWednesday 14th
Red BullSebastien BuemiSebastian Vettel
MercedesLewis HamiltonNico Rosberg
FerrariKimi RaikkonenKimi Raikkonen
LotusCharles PicPastor Maldonado
McLarenJenson ButtonStoffel Vandoorne
Force IndiaNico HulkenbergDaniel Juncadella
SauberGiedo van der GardeEsteban Gutierrez
Toro RossoJean-Eric VergneDaniil Kvyat
WilliamsFelipe MassaSusie Wolff
MarussiaMax ChiltonJules Bianchi
CaterhamKamui KobayashiRobin Frijns

Update: Ferrari have now confirmed Raikkonen will be driving. The table has been updated accordingly.

2014 F1 season


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Image © Williams/LAT

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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51 comments on “Seven reserve drivers to run in test”

  1. Nice to see some promising drivers get a chance in this test.

    Can’t wait to see the headline: Mercedes Megaphone Exhaust Slightly Louder – Rivals Suspect Performance Boost

    1. It’s quite telling how big of an advantage Mercedes have being the only team able afford spending time and resources on such a distraction.

      1. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
        12th May 2014, 17:55

        and also mercedes as an engine supplier as well they are not having to work as hard as ferrari or renault because they have a relatively reliable and the best performing engine

      2. I am sure Mercedes won’t do this unless there is some gain for them . Besides both their drivers are taking part . Maybe they could have given Sam Bird a chance for the missed opportunity last year ?

        1. DominikWilde
          12th May 2014, 20:02

          Sam Bird is no longer a Mercedes driver. The only Mercedes test/simulator drivers are Anthony Davison and Brendon Hartley. I was chatting with Davidson at the Silverstone WEC round and he told me Bird was no longer part of the team.

          Bird is now a full time driver for AF Corse.

          1. @hamilfan

            Speaking of Sam Bird…

            http://www.fiaformulae.com/news/sam-bird-qa

            Q & A with Sam Bird of Virgin Racing on FIA Formula E website.

          2. @bullmello and @hamilfan

            And of course both Hartley and Davidson are also racing for rival teams in the LMP1 class in the WEC, so I’m sure they’re currently preparing for Le Mans!

      3. Testing the different exhaust won’t cost the merc anything except some time in the garage. What will most likely happen is that the merc will try one or two different exhaust tricks whenever the car is in the pits. When the car drives around the track they will focus doing normal testing stuff. Only sacrifice merc is making here is the time spend changing the exhaust or part(s) and that happens when the car is in garage anyways. And they are probably changing the exhaust when the track is not even open (early morning, late night).

      4. Mercedes are doing this to protect their advantage.

        If they didn’t, the cries from Red Bull & Ferrari might gain some traction, possibly causing some change to the regulations, which would undoubtably aid non-merc engines.

        Very smart by Brackley.

    2. I’m against this artificial means to increase the noise. Hearing the tyre lock-ups, the screams of the crowd when Alonso passed Kimi. I don’t wan’t to miss that gain.

      1. Also against artificial noise for the sake of noise.

        Form follows function, or at least it should. The current exhaust sound is a result of the engine, turbo and the regulations guiding how and where the exhaust can and cannot flow and then exit. What the heck is wrong with that? It sounds fine. I don’t see how they can really change the sound much without changing the regs for flow and exit which would be needlessly expensive and could change performance when the regs are supposed to be static.

        Adding a megaphone type device to amplify the exhaust noise is one of the more ridiculous things I’ve ever heard of in F1.

        1. Well said. COTD. Next thing they will want horns and undercarriage lighting effects. The engines sound like they sound, and the sport can do without artificial/superficial auditory modifications. I am enjoying hearing the tires and brakes, and if I want engine noise I can always go to an airshow and hear jets howling by, breaking the sound barrier, etc. Also, trouble shooting based on sound may be easier now.

        2. I agree with this as well @bullmello, @paeschli, it started with “vanity panels” now we get trumpet exhausts next what?
          F1 should be about building and racing fast cars as a sport not gimmicks like boosting noise and having DRS.

        3. I agree. The sound is a byproduct. It is what it is. Stop messing with it.

      2. Looking at how many people are up in arms about the noise it’s something they need to fix.

        Personally, I care little of the noise as I like it. However the noise from the angry fans is too loud.

    3. I may be a sad old F1 fan of more than 40 years but as difficult as it is with this format I am struggling with it. If it couldn’t get more artificial it will now. What was wrong with engines producing sound. I am fed up of being told 2014 is good, it’s not.

      1. What was wrong with engines producing sound.

        Nothing. And the current engines also produce sound, just a different sound.

        That is not their purpose, though. Their purpose is to push a car around a track. Sound is merely a by-product, a side effect. Given a set of regulations, the engine manufacturers will design an engine to fulfil it’s purpose: To push a car around a track as quickly as possible.

        Anything they do now to increase the noise levels will be artificial. If you want more noise now, with the current regs, you want more artificiality.

      2. If you have been following the sport for 40 years then you should be familiar with the changes that has happened over the years. The cars evolve. 2014 cars are performing at 98% the performance of 2013 cars. With 1/3 less fuel. That’s magnificent engineering.
        Listen to the tires screeching, turbos wheezing, they are a joy to listen to.

    4. I’m hopeing they can map the engine so the exhaust can play “Dixie”

  2. so are teams allowed to use non-allocation engines right?

  3. I think it was stated during Bahrain tests that Kimi would test two days in Barcelona.

  4. It’ll be interesting to see how the Reserve drivers get on, especially Pic as he’s may well end in a race by the end of the season.

    1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      12th May 2014, 17:55

      @sam11333 – Not if Lotus want their books to add up…

      1. @william-brierty And that is the sad, sorry…but factual state of affairs. They are stuck letting Maldanado drive until he kills someone because they need the money he brings. :-(

        PDVSA should be embarrassed that they can not find ANY driver in the entire country of Venezuela who is more deserving of their support than Crashdanado.

        1. The only realistic alternative Venezuelan is probably Johnny Cecotto. Talk about frying pans and fires…

          1. NO. Just NO. A thousand times Maldonado instead of Cecotto.

        2. Darth Crashtor Shuntonaldo wont finish the season i dont think. he will accumulate too many penalty points for sure/

      2. @william-brierty
        Maldonado will probably get a one race ban until the end of the season, in 5 races he has already 4 points. He just need to collect 8 more points in the remaining 14 races to be banned. So Pic will most certainly drive for the Lotus this year.

        1. @daved
          Call me stupid or naive but I would like to think this quote from Gerard Lopez (which Keith included in last nights round up) shines some light on why Pastor is so accident prone. I would like to believe this is true. “[Pastor Maldonado] is unbelievably fast – every lap for him is something of a qualifying lap. Maybe he’s doing a bit too much and we need to sit down with him and work that out – tell him that in his case – with the speed that he has – most of the time 95 per cent would be enough. But he’s a nice guy and very accepted by the team.”

          1. @rob-wilson
            Am I being too hard on Maldando? Maybe.
            But I came to a similar conclusion as I thought about it more: He’s trying to “win the race” at every corner. At every inch of the track, no matter what else is going on and who’s in the way.
            That is poor judgement. I think many of the drivers could be super fast if they drove like every corner of every race was qualifying. But the other drivers seem to be able to deal with reality and the laws of physics.

            This is simple and a physics professor once told us: two objects can not occupy the same space at the same time….that is called a crash.

            Pastor seems to be in denial of this reality He truly feels like he should be able to be where he wants, when he wants. This is borne out by his absurd statements regarding his crash in Qualifying Saturday. He was actually blaming the wall for being too close. DUDE! That is how the track is laid out. Everyone else seems to deal with it, yet you feel that it’s somehow the walls fault for being where you “needed” to be?
            These comments along with his comments about Williams trying to sabotage him last year….no. His off track incident in China while he tried to play with the knobs on the steering wheel while entering a corner? No.

            I just can’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone makes mistakes, but Pastor has a clear pattern and worst of all: It’s never his fault.

          2. petebaldwin (@)
            12th May 2014, 22:04

            @daved – I honestly wanted to give Maldonado the benefit of the doubt. I even wrote on here that I thought Lotus had made a good decision bringing him in and thought he would prove the doubters wrong but it’s almost as though he’s stepped up the idiocy this year! I can’t defend him anymore. He is a danger to the other drivers and the marshals that have to regularly enter the track to pick up bits of his car and others that he’s clattered into.

            I’m all for aggressive driving but what he does is way beyond the line. He just chucks his car into gaps that don’t exist. He’s the F1 equivalent of Roy Keane – get out the way or you’re going to get hurt. That move he made on Guiterrez was scandalous and was deserving of a ban. I don’t know what was going through his head because there was zero possibility of getting round without contact.

          3. GB (@bgp001ruled)
            14th May 2014, 4:12

            no, he is just dumb, cant race and crashes with or without his intention. that is it…

      3. @william-brierty @daved @corix @rob-wilson You people are talking about what he has done the past .
        I am frightened of what might unfold ( literally ) considering the next track is Monaco . The storm is coming …. ( sounds like a hollywood trailer quote , can’t remember which one though )

        1. @hamilfan

          Sabine said this to Bruce Wayne in ” The Dark Knight Rises” :D

        2. Yeah….that is a scary thought. A crash at Monaco leaves no room for error and someone could easily be hurt.

        3. @hamilfan
          I just hope no one gets hurt (including Pastor himself).

          1. It really is getting that bad isn’t it?

            I don’t think F1 should be lazy on this.

  5. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
    12th May 2014, 17:51

    looks like kimi is furious and has decided not to take part in the tests(just kidding) lol

  6. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
    12th May 2014, 17:53

    Good to see Vettel and Maldonado because Vettel needs to adapt even though he looked good in spain but that might have been due to the nature of the track not many low speed corners and Maldonado really needs to get his act together and stop crashing!!

  7. Good to see Frijns and Vandoorne getting a run, they’re the two most promising drivers not currently in F1 in my opinion. Nice to see Buemi getting a test in too, looks like at least one Red Bull driver will be winning a championship this year :P

    1. LOL Good one.

    2. @george Totally agree! On both points, haha (wait.. what about the junior drivers :P).

  8. I hope Maldonado does not crash into Stoffel’s first run …

  9. So Sauber complain about how they can’t compete with the big teams then throw away a days testing on an inexperienced reserve driver. Perhaps their lack of results can be put down largely to poor decision making and not completely on a lack of funds.

    1. I suspect that it’s more complicated than that.

    2. Maybe your argument would stick if VdGarde did not come off a season of driving for Caterham after having spend the years before in various 3rd driver / test driver schemes @velocityboy.

      As I see it, its likely Guido’s and Esteban’s money paying for being able to test in the first place, so it makes sense to have them drive in it. Sutil can match that by replicating things in the simulator at home, where he does not have to be fetherlight and can drink during the day :-)

  10. I suppose it will be Hamilton who tests the new exhaust in the wet while Rosberg gets a full day testing performance parts, luck of the draw????

  11. petebaldwin (@)
    12th May 2014, 21:56

    Good call to give Pic a drive. It won’t be long before he has to stand in for Maldonado

  12. petebaldwin (@)
    12th May 2014, 21:56

    Good call to give Pic a drive. It won’t be long before he has to stand in for Maldonado

  13. C’Mon, Susie, show these little boys how it gets done!

Comments are closed.