Does F1 testing need an injection of fresh excitement?

After an extended Formula 1 winter break, and a launch season that left us with as many questions as answers, this week’s official pre-season test was always going to generate huge hype. Even without the generational change that comes with a new rules era, like we had 12 months ago, the intrigue over seeing how each team’s new challengers stack up never gets old.

And it is as interesting a time for teams as it is for fans. After weeks of isolation as competitors work alone on their new cars, pre-season running means trying to unlock as much understanding as you can from your own car, without giving too much knowledge away to your rivals.

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It means the true answers don’t really come from the end of day timesheets. Instead, it is more about plotting race runs, making calculated guesses on fuel levels, analysing tyre degradation and making as best a guesstimation as possible (taking into account DRS usage and engine modes) to get a rough idea of how things stack up.

Testing has forever been thus, but what has changed more recently is the way that things have been covered. Many years ago, long before the era of social media, there wasn’t even any official timing from tests. The only information that came out was when a friendly member of a team would offer up their timing calculations for the day. Then, it would be a case of trying to speak to everyone else to collaborate the day’s events to try to come up with the definitive picture.

Nowadays, testing has pretty much become an event that is covered as if it were ‘Race 0’ of the season. There is not only live timing, but all the data analytics that we get at a regular race weekends. F1’s broadcasters cover every minute of action, and photos and text updates live from trackside and the pitlane fill up social media feeds.

In one perspective, this all helps whip up a bit of a hype before the first race of the season to ensure there are as many eyeballs as possible on the new campaign. But, equally, there is another truth that is exposed from the live coverage as millions tune in to follow events. It is that testing, as a spectacle, can get very boring pretty quickly.

With cars rarely being pushed to their true limits as they are on grand prix weekends, and there not being any competitive benefit to being quickest, it does not take long before things get a bit repetitive on track. It is not like a grand prix weekend, where there is a natural building up of momentum – from practice, to qualifying and then the race.

MotoGP used to run a mock qualifying at the end of testing where the fastest rider won a BMW car - an idea F1 could borrow

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Instead, it’s Groundhog Day. Each day’s running starts and ends at the same time. It’s rinse-repeat for 72 hours.

This reality of testing not being a thriller prompted a few conversations in the Sakhir paddock about whether or not, in the era of extended live coverage, the time has come for a change.

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There has even been some discussion about whether or not F1 testing needs a bit of a competitive element to make it better justified as a piece of sporting entertainment. What about a prize (either cash or points) for the top time of the day? There could be a single lap shoot-out event at the end. Or what about a sprint race?

MotoGP used to do something similar at the end of its official pre-season tests. For many years, the series would hold a televised 45-minute ‘qualifying’ session for riders to gun for the best time as they went for the BMW M Award. The winner would walk away with a brand new limited edition BMW road car – so there was obviously a decent incentive for the riders to go out there and set a respectable lap time.

With it now accepted that drivers and teams can score a point for fastest lap in a race, it is not outrageous that there could be a small points incentive for the testing finale

Could F1 do the same? The ‘Crypto.com Testing Sprint Shoot Out’ certainly has a Liberty era ring to it. It would not be impossible to organise, and television companies would likely lap it up as a bit of extra content. Sure, there would be some added complications – including extra costs and work for already tired teams (including potentially the need for a second car, more spares, or a quick driver swap to ensure all 20 competitors had a go).

Circuits holding the event would also need to consider whether or not fans would need to pay to attend, and that in the end potentially triggers more organisational headaches. There is also the issue about whether or not teams and drivers would take it seriously enough to stop it becoming a damp squib.

If the top teams and drivers boycotted the event or produced just a token lap with no interest in letting things rip, then the event would bring more downside than good. That is why any prize on offer would have to be big enough to ensure that the interest of drivers and teams were piqued.

Perhaps awarding a small number of points for F1 testing would offer incentive for teams and drivers to engage in a stopwatch battle

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

A road car for the fastest driver would cause complications with so many rival manufacturers involved, and a cash prize would have to be pretty extravagant to be of consequence to the big money superstars. There could be some sporting gifts on offer though. With it now accepted that drivers and teams can score a point for fastest lap in a race, it is not outrageous that there could be a small points incentive for the testing finale.

It should not be a number anywhere near those available on a race weekend but, if just a handful of points were split among the top three, then that would be plenty to chase for teams to take it seriously. But if such a points-offering prize would be too much for F1’s hardcore fans and purists to accept, there could be another way.

Speaking to a few team principals in Bahrain about the idea, they cheekily joked that if F1 wanted everyone in the pitlane to take it seriously, then they should just offer a cash prize straight to the bosses. Instead of that, though, what about a prize pool for team employees for the fastest car?

So at the end of a few long, hard testing days, all the mechanics, engineers, garage and factory staff could make a final push to win their share of a team cash prize. Drivers would also be engaged enough in pulling out the stops to help reward personnel for all their effort.

It would be something worth fighting for, and bring fresh energy for the end of testing as things ramp up for the true battle to commence in the first race of the season.

A tweak to F1's testing format could allow for team employees to be rewarded for their efforts

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images