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Kovalainen Blames Testing Ban for F1 Chaos

On the verge of losing his racing seat at McLaren to Nico Rosberg – although the latest reports show the German driver is to compete on a silver-painted Brawn GP car next season – Finland's Heikki Kovalainen insisted the lack of in-season testing ban would have made the world of difference in 2009.

With teams like McLaren, Ferrari and BMW pushing hard last year for the championship title, they had little time to prepare their package for 2009. Had they had the opportunity to test more during the first half of the season and therefore recuperate the gap in performance to Brawn GP and Red Bull, the “big guns” would have had far more chances to save the 2009 campaign as the season had progressed.

Under the current rules, however, the teams that are currently playing catch up in the championship are obliged to use their practice sessions on Friday to test new setups for their 2009 challengers.

The testing ban is a big factor because teams like us and Ferrari would have been able to catch up quicker if we'd had more testing. Quite a lot of work had to be done in the factory, which is not always as accurate as when you go on the race track,” said Kova in an interview with Reuters press agency.

We're doing a lot of testing on Fridays, which is compromising our set-up work a little. I think it's the same with other teams which is why the season has been a bit silly, up and down,” added the Finn.

During the past 3 grands prix, McLaren and Ferrari have scored no less than 54 points together – Kimi Raikkonen was actually racing by his own for the prancing horse – recording 5 podium finishes and 2 wins. Their rate of development in 2009 has been the highest from all teams on the F1 roster, as they are the only teams who preferred to upgrade their KERS units throughout the season.
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