Red Bull beats Pirelli and Mercedes: winter tests for the 2017 season in Barcelona

Despite strong pressure from Mercedes and a written request made by Pirelli to the entire Strategy Group, the International Federation has chosen not to move the location of the winter tests in anticipation of the 2017 season, therefore maintaining the Barcelona track as a development site for the next championship.

In fact, Red Bull did not vote for the move to Bahrain as requested by Pirelli, thus destroying the unanimity and therefore the entire proposal in general. Dietrich Mateschitz's team, helped by small teams in financial difficulty, took advantage of article 10.6d of the Sporting Regulations, which states that the winter test sessions cannot be carried out outside Europe without the consent of the majority of the teams .

Mercedes and Pirelli, given the opposition of the Austrian team, found themselves in an inferior situation which did not allow the brands in question to move the balance in their favour.

The idea of ​​splitting the tests was also rejected, with the idea of ​​having one part of the teams in Spain and the other in the Middle East.

It should be noted that the objective of the test in Sakhir was to test the new tires that will be introduced in 2017, so as to arrive in Australia with much more data and the awareness of having a safe and certainly reliable product.

In any case, the Strategy Group will evaluate a two-day test in the East after the Bahrain Grand Prix.