Six Formula One teams will carry out a tyre test with supplier Pirelli in Bahrain next week after the sporting regulations were changed on safety grounds, the governing FIA confirmed yesterday.

The International Automobile Federation said in a statement that world champions Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso had accepted an invitation open to all teams.

The test at the Sakhir circuit will be from December 17-19.

Regular testing is banned until next year under current regulations but Pirelli had called for a dispensation so they could collect more data about next year’s tyres with representative machinery.

The first regular test of the 2014 season is scheduled to start in late January in Jerez, Spain.

The Italian company is keen to avoid any repeat of this year’s spectacular British Grand Prix blowouts that threw the sport into crisis and forced Pirelli to revise their tyre construction.

Next season brings the introduction of a new V6 turbo-charged engine with energy recovery systems, in place of the old V8, with Pirelli outspoken about the need for more time to test the tyres.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.