Rewind to 2008 and that was the last time that Formula 1 runners were allowed the luxury of an in-season circuit test for their racing drivers.
But kickstarting today, we have our first in-season test, with the F1 circus – with the exception of the HRT F1 team – heading to the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, near the Italian city of Florence, for three days of all-important running.
This is the one and only opportunity that teams will have to put some serious mileage on their cars ahead of the all-important European leg of the championship.
All will be bringing major updates to their cars, and some of the underperforming teams – most notably Ferrari – will be desperately hoping that these new components bring about a much-needed improvement in their competitiveness.
As always, RichardsF1.com will provide you with a daily round-up – and the best photos – from the three days of activity in Italy, so let’s take a look at who will be piloting the cars for the next three days:
| Team | Day(s) Running | Driver | |
| Red Bull Racing Renault RB8 | Tue, Wed AM | Mark Webber |  |
| Wed PM, Thu | Sebastian Vettel |  |
|
| Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 | Tue AM, Thu | Oliver Turvey |  |
| Tue PM, Wed | Gary Paffett | |
|
| Scuderia Ferrari F2012 | Tue, Thu | Fernando Alonso |  |
| Wed | Felipe Massa |  |
|
| Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W03 | Tue AM, Thu | Nico Rosberg | |
| Tue PM, Wed | Michael Schumacher | |
|
| Lotus F1 Team Renault E20 | Tue | Jérôme d’Ambrosio |  |
| Wed | Romain Grosjean |  |
|
| Thu | Kimi Räikkönen |  |
|
| Sahara Force India F1 Team Mercedes VJM05 | Tue | Jules Bianchi |  |
| Wed | Paul di Resta | |
|
| Thu | Nico Hülkenberg | |
|
| Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C31 | Tue, Wed | Kamui Kobayashi |  |
| Thu | Sergio Pérez |  |
|
| Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7 | Tue, Wed AM | Jean-Éric Vergne | |
| Wed PM, Thu | Daniel Ricciardo | |
|
| Williams F1 Team Renault FW34 | Tue | Valtteri Bottas | |
| Wed | Bruno Senna | |
|
| Thu | Pastor Maldonado |  |
|
| Caterham F1 Team Renault CT01 | Tue | Rodolfo González | |
| Wed | Vitaly Petrov |  |
|
| Thu | Heikki Kovalainen | |
|
| HRT F1 Team Cosworth F112 | Tue, Wed, Thu | Not Running | |
| Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01 | Tue, Wed AM | Charles Pic | |
| Wed PM, Thu | Timo Glock | |
 |
|
Richard Bailey
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