Musical Chairs?

[RevMaxPower]

A question.

When a Team is casting about for a replacement driver, do they hire based on past experience or take him to a circuit for a couple of days, set a car up, "chuck him a set of keys" , and say - "Go play with THIS! We'll be watching..."

Surely they'd want to know how a driver would get on in THEIR car compared to his previous/current Teams?

I've often wondered how it's done - apart from the salary negotiations, that is...

 

[RasputinLives]

Good question Axle. I think in the old days you latter idea was probably done but in this day of the testing ban I'm really not sure.

Anyone?

 

[Slyboogy]

It's a combination of both really, the lower teams usually do a shootout between drivers, the top teams just hire big names or promising talent, and now the big teams put one of their young drivers in a lower team like Red Bull do with Toro Rosso, Mercedes/McLaren and Force India, Ferrari and Sauber

 

[FB]

Don't forget they have very sophisticated simulators these days which the potential drivers can have a thrash around in and at least if they get it wrong they don't bend a very expensive F1 car.

 

[Fenderman]

FIA regulations - current

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/sporting_regulations/8713/fia.html

TRACK AND WIND TUNNEL TESTING
22.1 a) Track testing shall be considered any track running time undertaken by a competitor entered in the Championship with the exception of :

“... one three day young driver training test, carried out on a site approved by the FIA for Formula 1 cars and between the end of the last Event of the Championship and 31 December of the same year, any such driver having not competed in more than two F1 World Championship Events ...” and

“If a team declares that one of its current race drivers is to be substituted by a driver who has not participated in an F1 race in the two previous calendar years, one day of track testing will be permitted between the start of the week preceding second Event and the last Event of the Championship.” and ...

“If a team, having declared the driver's substitution and performed the test, does not then enter an Event with the new driver, the team will be penalised by a reduction of one day from the pre-season track testing days available in the following year.”