Domenicali hopes for rain in winter testing

Stefano Domenicali on Wednesday said he hopes it rains at some point during the 15 scheduled days of pre-season testing before the 2011 opener.

F1 has switched from Bridgestone to Pirelli for this year, but solid sunny weather will mean the circus congregates in Bahrain in March without having tried the Italian marque’s wet tyres.

“If it doesn’t rain, there is no other way to try them,” Domenicali told reporters at the ‘Wrooom’ media event in the Italian Dolomites.

“That would make the first wet session at the track interesting,” smiled the boss of the Ferrari team, a staunch opponent of F1’s harsh restrictions on track testing.

Also interesting in F1 will be the sport’s political side, Domenicali admitted.

At the end of 2012, the current Concorde Agreement will expire and there has already been some talk of a ‘breakaway’ series.

“Right now it (the politics) is fairly quiet,” Domenicali is quoted as saying by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.  “I expect that to change by the middle of the season.

“The FIA, the teams and the commercial rights holder must together find a way forwards,” he added.

More immediately, there has been talk that Red Bull broke a cost-saving agreement in 2010, but Domenicali denied that the team might be stripped of its championship titles.

“This (the resource restriction agreement) is between the teams,” said the Italian.  “The FIA is not involved.

“So, a violation will not affect the results.  If a team has spent too much, the agreement provides that it has to spend less in subsequent years,” he added.

© RIF | GMM