F1 drops Jerez as 2016 test venue

F1 has reportedly dumped Jerez as a winter test location for 2016.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport claims that, to cut costs, the sport has decided to reduce its official pre-season programme from three to just two four-day tests.

It means the traditional first test at Jerez in February has been dropped, leaving Barcelona to host all eight days of the pre-season beginning in early March.

The report said the extended winter break has been approved by all eleven teams for 2016, including the new American entrant Haas.

It ties in with earlier news suggesting the race calendar for next year has been condensed, and will begin in Melbourne not in mid-March but in early April.

Auto Motor und Sport said the new first four-day test of the 2016 pre-season will now begin on 1 March, with the teams returning to the same Circuit de Catalunya two weeks later.

Pirelli, meanwhile, is planning some tyre testing of its own between the end of this season and the beginning of the 2016 winter period, as the official tyre supplier bids to add to its current range of four dry-weather compounds.

The report said Pirelli wants the test to take place in warm weather, such as Bahrain, and be carried out by one top and one midfield team, with every other team sending an observer.

Pirelli is reportedly also planning a special wet-tyre test with a 2015 car, probably in February next year at Paul Ricard, which can be artificially soaked.