German Formula One driver Timo Glock regrets that his Marussia team will miss the upcoming final pre-season tests after failing to pass the mandatory crash test, but is upbeat that the car will be ready for the March 18 season-opener in Australia.
“Of course it is a shame that we can’t test in Barcelona ... (But) safety comes first,” Glock told dpa on Tuesday. “We will be competing with our new car in Melbourne.” Marussia drivers Glock and Charles Pic of France will go to Australia without official tests after the team said on Monday night it had not passed the crash test from the ruling body FIA.
“All cars are required to pass 18 FIA-observed tests to be granted. Despite the fact that the MR01 has passed all 17 of the preceding tests, the regulations require the car to have completed all of the tests before running commences,” Marussia said.
“We will now not take part in the final pre-season test in Barcelona later this week (1-4 March) and will instead focus its efforts on repeating the crash test at the end of the week.”
