Youth Testing at Silverstone: who drives where?

The Youth Tests, which began this Wednesday and which run until Friday on the Silverstone circuit, are not really ones. Indeed, following the tire bursts encountered during the British Grand Prix, on this same circuit at the end of June, the decision was taken to open these sessions, usually reserved for beginners, to regular drivers, so that ?They can test the new Pirelli tires that the Italian manufacturer plans to introduce at the next meeting in Hungary. The FIA ​​subsequently clarified that it would be possible to engage in development sessions, making these tests real private tests, like the F1 knowing several in the season a few years ago.

Faced with this opportunity, the teams all chose diverse and varied options. McLaren, for example, decided to only run its test drivers and Kevin Magnussen, currently engaged in Formula Renault 3.5. Others, like Ferrari, Lotus or even Force India, will only enlist one of their regular drivers before calling on their reserves. Finally, there is also the case Red Bull : in addition to running its two regular drivers and members of its Young Drivers Academy, the Austrian team will benefit to run Daniel Ricciardo, just to evaluate him in the RB9, while he is currently competing with Kimi Räikkönen to replace Mark Webber next year in the reigning three-time world champion car.

Among the notable facts to note, the absence of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber or even Romain Grosjean are to be highlighted. Furthermore, a woman will take the wheel of a Formula 1: it is Susie Wolff in Williams. Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniel Ricciardo are the two drivers who will drive two different cars, at Red Bull and Toro Rosso, during these tests. As a reminder, the stable Mercedes was excluded from these sessions by the FIA ​​International Tribunal following private testing conducted by Pirelli in Barcelona.

List of drivers lined up for the Youth Tests at Silverstone, by team:

Red Bull Racing: Antonio Felix da Costa, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz Jr.
Ferrari: Davide Rigon and Felipe Massa.
McLaren: Kevin Magnussen, Oliver Turvey and Gary Paffett.
Lotus F1 Team: Nicolas Cheers, Davide Valsecchi and Kimi Räikkönen.
Sauber F1 Team: Robin Frijns, Nico Hulkenberg, Kimiya Sato.
Sahara Force India: James Calado, Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.
Williams F1 Team: Daniel Juncadella, Pastor Maldonado and Susie Wolff.
Scuderia Toro Rosso: Johnny Cecotto Jr., Carlos Sainz Jr. Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat.
Caterham F1 Team: Alexander Red, Will Stevens, Giedo Van der Garde and Charles Pic.
Marussia F1 Team: Tio Ellinas, Rodolfo Conzalez, Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.

Article updated Wednesday July 17, 2013.