Horner & Boullier question in-season testing

Red bull team principal Christian Horner and Lotus team principal Eric Boullier have both spoken out against Formula One's recent in-season testing session.

Last week all the Formula One teams with the exception of HRT all travelled to the Italian track of Mugello, the circuit owned by Ferrari, hosted three days of tests, which saw the teams complete hundreds of miles of testing.

Some teams gave test drivers the chance to get some time behind the wheel of the car, others used it to test new developments and upgrade packages for their cars.

It was the first time since 2008 that in-season testing was allowed, but was it a success?

The drivers in the main appeared to enjoy it going by their comments, but what about the men at the top?

Well Red Bull and Lotus team principals Horner and Boullier were not convinced by its merits.

'Any test time you have is useful, but whether it is the right thing for F1 to be testing in-season is probably a bigger topic.

'When you look at the cost of running here, we will have done three times the mileage of a grand prix weekend. In many respects would it have been better to have another grand prix weekend than to go testing?' Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Autosport Magazine.

He continued: 'If you look at the focus on cost saving, this test hasn't achieved that for any team. Moving forward we should look at whether or not in-season testing is the right thing to be doing.'

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier appeared to agree with Horner's evaluation of the test.

Like Horner, Boullier could see the benefits of holding the test, especially for the teams struggling to compete with their rivals, but overall, he doesn't see the benefit for Formula One in an era of cutting costs.

'We would have liked to avoid this one, When you are struggling it is different and I'm sure Ferrari is happy to have this test.

'In general we are not in favour of this. We would prefer to have had all the testing in February, like last year, but it depends on your position, I'm sure some teams will vote in favour because they need track time to develop their car faster, but the teams with good cars don't need it.'