The alternative Young Driver Test at the Silverstone circuit will go ahead after the British Grand Prix, but so far only three teams have confirmed their attendance.
It’s believed Marussia, HRT and Williams will run on the Thursday and Friday following the grand prix as it offers a considerable cost saving compared to Abu Dhabi – where it’s expected the remaining nine teams will run rookie drivers.
Negotiations took place with the Northamptonshire based circuit in order to have a student event moved to later in the month, which had been planned for the weekend after, and with Formula One Management who have contractual control over the circuit for the weeks before and after a race.
The three aforementioned teams will only have two days running compared to three had they opted to run in Abu Dhabi – however discussions are ongoing to see if the Wednesday can be included to push the test to three days, which may entice more teams to join.
Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren have confirmed they will run in Abu Dhabi regardless, but Lotus, Force India, Caterham, Sauber and Mercedes have expressed an interest in extending their Silverstone weekend.
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