OPINION: Formula 1's provision of just three days for teams to test their new cars in anger before the first race means there's precious little time to iron out problems and establish whether any issues are merely glitches or something more serious. Going back to more is not only unnecessary, but undesirable

In days of yore, testing a Formula 1 car was almost completely open. As long as a team was willing to throw some money at a circuit to handle all of the stewarding admin, it could pretty much take their car anywhere and log endless miles on the odometer in between breaks for engine failures and other fixtures falling off. As F1 became more professional, rules were implemented to ensure only FIA-certified circuits could be used to guarantee safety, but in-season testing was still nonetheless commonplace.

PLUS: From Senna's brilliance to tragedy - Tim Wright’s F1 testing tales