According to the Gulf Daily News, the Sakhir track’s boss Martin Whitaker admitted that discussions are already taking place in order to secure the F1 teams a couple of days of testing, prior to the season opener in mid-March.
The reasons why the F1 teams are considering this are quite simple. First of all, poor weather in Europe – as it’s only the end of winter and the rainy season has a history of influencing F1 testing session in Europe – is often causing the teams to cut down on their scheduled 15 days of testing before the season starts.
Secondly, testing their cars in the hot-temperature conditions in Sakhir would give them a better feedback of how their 2010 challengers will do in the pre-European rounds of the 2010 season. Not to mention the fact that Bahrain will actually host the season opener in March.
“If teams who want to come here can get the permission of their rivals, we would be glad to welcome them. Right now, it is still too early to say for sure; a lot of them are not even ready to run their new cars. But we are confident we could have one or two come out to Bahrain and test before the season,” said Whitaker.
The FIA-scheduled winter testing is currently set for Spanish venues Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona. In the past, the Bahrain-based testing meetings have been heavily affected by sandstorms.
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