Lost day of F1 testing unlikely to be replaced

With the poor weather predicted well in advance, some teams began lobbying for a change to the schedule earlier this week.

Matters were complicated by the fact that Williams has a private filming day in Barcelona booked for Friday, and Ferrari has one on Saturday. Monday was discussed as a possible alternative.

Any change requires the agreement of all 10 teams, as the FIA Sporting Regulations note: "The test schedule will be finalised within 21 days of the first publication of the Championship calendar, changes may only be made after this date with the agreement of all competitors."

While some teams are pushing for a change, Motorsport.com has learned more than one team has declined to agree.

"Williams and Ferrari have already said no, so it won't or can't happen," one team source told Motorsport.com.

There are obvious logistical problems for teams, for example in terms of personnel travelling back and forth between Spain and their home bases on already scheduled flights, making Monday impractical.

In addition, the FIA rules regarding testing specifically state that no test can be longer than four days: "Two tests, open to all competitors, of no more than four consecutive days' duration carried out between 1 February and ten days before the start of the first Event of the Championship."

Adding an extra day on Monday – at the start of the already scheduled second four-day test – would extend it to five days. Thus even if the teams did agree, the FIA would still have to check with its own legal department that it would be on safe ground if it did ignore its own rules.

In addition, the FIA would have preferred to have come to an agreement on Tuesday so that Wednesday's session could be formally cancelled in advance.

Although the cars are not running, in effect the third test day is deemed to have taken place.