The RB6 missed the first test and unreliability cost them the first two races, they bust a gut to get the RB7 to the first test and dominated the season. I don't see the point in missing the first test on purpose. If they decide between the two tests that they've gone the wrong way it's too late to change the design anyway. It's laziness in my opinion, giving themselves, 12 weeks to do what everyone else is doing in 10 (or however long they have). Interesting point. Maybe they need an extra fortnight to accomodate all the meeting and discussions these guys will be having. Red Bull obviously have many talented individuals, but Newey is the king pin, they all answer to him allowing the design to be steered in a specific direction with no conflict or wasted time. The moral of the story: When we start our not606 team, you buggers have to do as I tell you.
I do wonder how things will work at Mercedes. If different technical directors are covering completely different aspects of the mercedes operation (Ie, one covers the car, another strategy,etc) then it'll be fine, but if each of them are designing different elements of the car, surely that'll cause issues? With Newey at the helm, the entire RB7 was built around energising the diffuser, and this is reflected in the design of other key components. If each of mercedes' technical directors are concentrating on getting performance out of their individual section, will they fail to maximise the net downforce? Maybe meetings could be the reason behind the delay! Still, its very surprising from Mercedes, they've been in a large performance whole, with their position in the championship really confirmed very early on. So why didn't they switch their focus to the 2012 car early enough to guarantee they'd make the first test?
