Wolff: Pirelli & FIA should decide on Bahrain test

Oct.9 - Pirelli and the FIA should decide if pre-season testing takes place in Bahrain.

That is the view of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, as the teams up and down the pitlane argue over whether to stick with the current plan for Barcelona-only testing.

"We know that Pirelli want to do testing where it is possible to get representative data, and the people in Bahrain offered their track," said Wolff at Suzuka.

His team colleague Niki Lauda, however, has been actively campaigning for the Bahrain running, to help Pirelli prepare its wider and faster tyres for 2017.

Wolff admits Lauda has hit some opposition on grounds of cost.

"I can understand this argument," he said, "but in my opinion the ball is now in the court of Pirelli and the FIA. Then it must be decided how to fund it to make it economically feasible for the small teams."

He said a decision needs to be taken within a couple of weeks.

But Wolff insisted: "In my opinion we should stop expressing all of our various opinions, because we have a tyre supplier who knows what to do to ensure the safety and the entertainment of the racing."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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