More teams will skip Jerez test - Boullier

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F1 Test, Jerez, Circuit Permanente de Jerezes

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has refuted claims that his team's delay in finishing their new E22 chassis is caused by financial problems. Instead he notes that missing the first test is not a big deal at all.

"You will see, we will not be the only team not being in Jerez," he told BBC Sport. "I know this for a fact already.

"We already said a month ago that it is going to be tight," he continued. "Actually most of the teams agreed it was going to be tight. Then it was a decision we took. It is true the car will not be ready on time, but we will be ready shortly after that - and in some ways, it is not bad because we will have time to watch what the others are doing and nobody will be able to watch what we are doing. Remember, this year it is a big regulation change, so everybody will be watching very carefully what the others have done.

Lotus now expect to have their car ready in time a week after the end of the Jerez test.

"We took the decision bearing in mind we would miss a third of the testing, so we have to focus on doing things a little bit differently to make sure we do not lose too much," he added.

While indeed not all teams have confirmed to be present at Jerez, Ferrari is expected to launch their car the week ahead of the test, making it available to be run at Jerez. McLaren will have their car ready while Caterham and Mercedes have confirmed they will launch at the track before the test commences. Sutil on the other hand confirmed on twitter that Sauber will be ready as well.

This leaves Red Bull Racing, Sahara Force India, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Marussia who are yet to confirm anything about their cars or their participation at the Jerez winter test.