Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur suspects Max Verstappen’s recent private test with a 2022 Red Bull Formula 1 car at Imola was tailored towards a development focus.
The series embarking upon its third term under the current ground effect regulations has seen teams now permitted to sample their 2022 cars as the rules prescribe.
Several teams across the grid have opted to grant younger drivers in their ranks opportunities, including Mercedes as it assesses Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s credentials.
However, Red Bull elected to get Verstappen to drive the title-winning RB18 car, which took 17 victories, before the Spanish Grand Prix last month at the Italian venue.
Red Bull’s decision came with the reigning champions boasting a sizeable margin in both standings but having encountered issues with kerb-riding at several circuits.
Paul Monaghan, Red Bull’s Chief Engineer, explained that the choice emanated from the desire to acquire an up-to-date and accurate comparison across the two cars.
“We really try to give Max a reference from a previous car,” Monaghan said in Barcelona.
“When you’re trying to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a current car, his reference is the current car and you might say, ‘well in previous years we’ve had this, we’ve had that’.
“Have we really because we haven’t run them at the same time?
“So, in taking that car out, we try to give Max a reference to judge it from and he’s been able to give us feedback from that. It’s up to us what we do.”
Asked to provide his viewpoint at the Red Bull Ring about the outing, Verstappen indicated that he had been the individual who’d pushed Red Bull to conduct the test.
“We had the test with the ‘22 car, which is allowed now this year, and I just wanted to get my references back because it’s been a while driving that car,” he added.
“So yeah, it’s a fun track as well of course, Imola. We had a good day.
“It was nice and warm also, and just refreshing my mind of how that car was driving compared to this one.”
However, Vasseur is convinced that putting Verstappen in the car was a clear indication that Red Bull was attempting to help shape the team’s development direction.
“It’s more development than something else,” he claimed.
“It’s not to give mileage to Max between Barcelona and Austria, that Tuesday you do nothing, go to Imola. It’s clearly development.”
Vasseur’s reaction came from a question regarding how much testing in previous specification cars Ferrari would be doing this season and whether it was too much.
The Frenchman divulged that the marque tends to draw up plans to do between “two or four” runs with its full-time drivers and then the rest with development drivers.
In the scenario where the FIA wanted to clamp down more on F1 in-season testing, Vasseur has suggested that a divide based on the drivers would be most suitable.
“Over the season I think we will do probably a bit less than 10,” he said. “But you can differentiate the TPC that you could do with your drivers, racing drivers I want to say.
“What you could do with the young drivers, but this for me is another approach, it’s giving them the opportunity sometimes to do mileage for the simulator, and so to develop them.
“I think if we have to police it, we will have to split the two aspects, the day that we are doing with our drivers, and the day that we are doing with the non-racing drivers.
“Honestly like this I would say something stupid, but I would say that we did two or four with our drivers this year, over the season.”
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