Test ban sucks says Hamilton

Whilst Mercedes competitors namely Red Bull and Ferrari have bemoaned the apparent leniency of Mercedes punishment following their FIA tribunal, Lewis Hamilton has spoken about how hard their test ban will be for the team.

Following on from the illegal tyre test that Pirelli and Mercedes participated in following the Spanish Grand Prix, the Mercedes team have been banned from testing during the Young Drivers Test at Silverstone next month.

Red Bull and Ferrari wanted Mercedes to be hit with a harder punishment for completing around 1,000km of in-season testing with their current 2013 car, something that is outlawed in Formula One and have even suggested that they may participate in their own private tests to rebel against the FIA.

But Lewis Hamilton has spoken about the knock on effect that missing the young driver test will have, not only for development of the current car, but for their test drivers and their simulator.

‘That [the ban] does suck a little bit because that test is quite an important test for the year – it’s the only test really, It’s important because we had a lot planned, upgrades and stuff, that we were hoping to test on those three days.’ Hamilton told Autosport Magazine.

‘It was also vital for the [test] drivers who are always on the simulator to test the tyres, to know where they are and come back in here and get feedback so they continue working on developments and improving the simulator.

‘It definitely puts us back a little bit, but we’re going to have to try to figure out a way to recover it elsewhere.’