Possible venues for F1 winter testing

[Darknight]

So it seems that the last and final test, the one that would be most crucial will be held during at least 2 days of rain. I wonder why testing is not done at tracks that have warmer and more predictable weather! I am sure the teams can gain much more information than holding tests at tracks where the weather dictates the test program.

[korzeniow]

So it seems that the last and final test, the one that would be most crucial will be held during at least 2 days of rain. I wonder why testing is not done at tracks that have warmer and more predictable weather! I am sure the teams can gain much more information than holding tests at tracks where the weather dictates the test program.

Name a better venue for testing.

[FoxHound]

Kyalami, South Africa.

[Arterius]

So it seems that the last and final test, the one that would be most crucial will be held during at least 2 days of rain. I wonder why testing is not done at tracks that have warmer and more predictable weather! I am sure the teams can gain much more information than holding tests at tracks where the weather dictates the test program.

Name a better venue for testing.

Temperature and weather wise?
Kyalami, South Africa. Then ship straight to Australia from there.

[stefan_]

It would cost a lot of money to ship things to South Africa and then back to the UK (where most of the team factories are). If I am not mistaken, the equipment for Melbourne is already on the way (of not arrived) to Australia while testing goes underway at Barcelona.

[Afterburner]

So it seems that the last and final test, the one that would be most crucial will be held during at least 2 days of rain. I wonder why testing is not done at tracks that have warmer and more predictable weather! I am sure the teams can gain much more information than holding tests at tracks where the weather dictates the test program.

Name a better venue for testing.

Portimão - Algarve.

Top facilities and top weather.

[Steven]

First of all, teams want to have testing close to their bases, so that they can go to the events with the trucks. It's cheaper and easier to bring more stuff. One must also consider that some teams have last-minute items flown over towards the end of testing. Having such a test at a distant location is not going to help cut costs.

Secondly, Barcelona does usually have good weather, and it's a perfect facility to test cars (given its not really a drivers circuit). May I also remind you of the last time some teams went out to test at Portimao... it was a complete wash-out:
http://www.f1technical.net/news/11485

[Rikhart]

Well, its only cloudy at the Algarve atm, at least no rain On the whole, i´d say Algarve offers much better conditions than barcelona at this time of year (barring occasional bad weather, even in bahrain they had... sand storms).

[stefan_]

Imagine Lotus being in South Africa last year when they had the suspension problem.