F1 Test Drivers Not Being Used ?

[darcym]

as we all know testing is limited and test drivers are pretty much simulator jockeys these days.

However I often see reference to drivers being needed for show/publicity events. It seems obvious that test drivers will do these events.

However I seem to read more and more that these events are being driven by random drivers.

the most recent one is Kobayashi testing at Fiorano to get ready to do a show run in Russia.

I understand he's not drove for a while so a quick test to get back up to speed and how the car works is very useful, but however Ferrari have the two race drivers, plus De La Rosa and Gene as test drivers, why would you take someone who's not in F1 even as a test driver currently and give him a test to learn an old car and then a show run in a country that has nothing to do with him (so no national sponsorship/fan courting) when you have two solid drivers who know the car already have more recent F1 experience and already know the team sat on the bench.

I've seen this with other teams when random joe gets to drive the car when test drivers are sat on the bench.

thoughts ?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Given that the simulators are run pretty much 7 days a week, there goes one of the named drivers. In addition to being test drivers what other commitments do they have to the Company - not just the race team, their own business lives (personal sponsors) and personal lives.

Rent-a-driver may sound silly but is probably cost effective.

[chillibowl]

just a question and maybe a bit out there, but is there any value in having Kobi out there in comparing a 2010 Ferrari (with who knows what parts and tires strapped to it) and offering his feed back in relation to his experiences with another Ferrari powered car which was much friendly on its tires?

[Richard C]

I was under the impression that Kobayashi was now a Ferrari works driver in WEC GT class. So given that he is now part of the Ferrari family, he is a current Ferrari racer in a top series, was a popular F1 driver, has F1 experience, etc. Why not have him pilot an older car at a demo?

Richard

[darcym]

I didn't know Kobayashi was now driving for Ferrari in WEC, he's fell off my map a bit, so it makes a bit more sense now, however he was only an example of the current moment, you seem to see this sort of thing more often than I'd expect with test drivers on the bench, even in this example there are two very respected/experienced Ferrari F1 test drivers in the wings. The point on Simulators running 24x7 is valid to a degree, it just interests me why teams even with a big a budget as Ferrari with no need for "give us a million quid and you no-mark pdriver can drive this car in a straight line" type agreements that other teams may use seem to leave their experienced drivers on the bench (I'm sure any seat time is valuable). Although I then wonder if the hassle of pulling a test driver in to drive a 3 year old car is worth the effort to them ?

[Richard C]

My best guess is that most of the events in question are PR centric. And that at the event, the driver likely never gets the car anywhere close to the limit so it likely provides little if any real "seat time" (watch the recent video of Michael Schumacher effectively coasting around the Nordschleife in a Mercedes.) So other factors (who is available and is not loosing time at their day job such as on a simulator, who might appeal to the crowd at the event, etc.) ends up being the deciding factor?

Richard

[BSchneiderFan]

There is a real problem here. Being a test driver in F1 has stopped being a decent method of progression for young drivers. You get little if any seat time and can far too easily drop off the radar. I've been pondering this; what if the FIA said that for FP1 teams had to run someone who wasn't one of their two nominated drivers for the weekend? That way, test drivers would get some proper running at every track.

[aneesh99]

Or use the Monday after the race weekend as has been discussed by a few outside of F1?

Either way, let's be honest here, the testing ban was silly