Three teams confirmed for Jerez, but how many more will join them?

Three teams have confirmed they will attend the first pre-season test of 2014 in Jerez, which starts on 28 January, but the suggestion is that ther...

Three teams have confirmed they will attend the first pre-season test of 2014 in Jerez, which starts on 28 January, but the suggestion is that there might not be too many more joining them.

Mercedes, Caterham and Williams will be in Spain for the four-day test, as they look to gain crucial mileage with their new cars following a big change to the regulations.

Williams, who used their old 2012 machine at the first test last year, tweeted that they have begun building their new FW36 this week ahead of Jerez.

However, it seems many other teams are facing a race against time to get their cars ready in time, with the Spanish test just over two weeks away.

Lotus have already said they will miss the test, instead aiming to have their 2014 challenger ready for the first of two tests in Bahrain next month.

Speaking to Reuters, Marussia sporting director Graeme Lowdon said his team are “planning to be there” in Jerez, while Sauber’s Adrian Sutil said he would be at Jerez – but neither has confirmed their plans. Toro Rosso's Danil Kvyat has also said he will be in Jerez.

It comes as the FIA has called a meeting with the teams’ sporting directors in Geneva today to discuss a number of issues.

There are still plenty of rules which are up in the air such as the issue of double points awarded at the final race of the season, which will be the subject of a further meeting of the new F1 Strategy Group.

With a little over 60 days until the first race, there’s the sport’s governing body and the teams have a lot of work to do before the lights go out in Melbourne on 16 March.

*In other news, Williams announced three new signings to its engineering team for the coming season.

Jakob Andreasen joins from Force India to take up the role of head of engineering operations, working to chief technical officer Pat Symonds.

Craig Wilson returns to the team from Mercedes to take up the role of head of vehicle dynamics while Rod Nelson joins from Lotus to become the chief test and support engineer.