19 February 2024 , 18:52
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Fernando Alonso has slammed the current format of pre-season testing and believes that changes should be made ahead of the 2025 Formula One campaign.
Drivers are preparing for the start of the new season, which will get underway in less than two weeks' time in Bahrain. Testing begins on Wednesday and lasts for three days, offering drivers the chance to put in some vital practice, tweak their cars and witness the other competitors in action for the first time this year.
However, each team can only field one car per day. This means that half of all the drivers out there will be at a disadvantage, when compared to their teammate. As such, Alonso is campaigning for F1 bosses to alter it to a four-day test or allow two cards per team to be out on track at the same time from next season.
"We have a very limited testing in Bahrain, which is, and by the way I can say now, I've been thinking all winter about this, how unfair it is that we have one day and a half to prepare for a world championship," the Spaniard said.
"There's no other sport in the world... With all the money involved, and with all the marketing and the good things that we say about Formula 1, and being closer and closer to the fans, I cannot understand why we then go to Bahrain for four days, which could be two and two for [each of] the drivers.
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"If you go for three [days], which is not even, which is an odd number, you cannot divide it [equally] between the drivers. And I don't know why we don't go with two cars."
Fernando Alonso is not ready to wave goodbye to F1 just yet (Getty Images)Alonso will be hoping to impress at Aston Martin during his final year of his contract. The 41-year-old, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, is still hungry to challenge the elite despite entering his 21st campaign on the track. The Spaniard could put himself in contention for Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes seat.
Speaking during Aston Martin's AMR24 launch earlier this month, Alonso said: "If we cannot reach an agreement I know that I am attractive to other teams.
"I will not stay in Formula One just to have fun. I am not that kind of person and not that kind of driver. Let’s see what the options are.
"There are only three world champions on the grid and I am the only one available for 2025, so I am in a good position."