Marussia will not be taking their 2012 challenger to the opening test in Jerez, citing the need to first put some miles under Charles Pic's belt.
Team planning to be at the second test in Jerez
Marussia will not be taking their 2012 challenger to the opening test in Jerez, but will give a track debut to newcomer Charles Pic instead.
Marussia will - not for the first time - be starting the campaign with a new driver having signed former GP2 racer Pic as Timo Glock's latest team-mate.
And, according to technical consultant Pat Symonds, the team will run Pic rather than their new car to allow the youngster to get familiar with F1.
"We are aiming for the second," Symonds told
Autosport. "We are going to be at the first test anyway because I think it's important for Charles to get some miles under his belt and it shakes some of the cobwebs off of the team."
As for the new car, Symonds revealed that the team have carried little over from their previous contender and have not taken a radical route.
"You always carry over something, but I think we have probably carried over less than normal," he said.
"The whole of the suspension design is different, even the pedal assemblies are different. There is probably a smaller amount of carry over on this car than almost any car I have worked on."
He added: "I don't think it is the time for us to be innovative.
"When you are that far off the front it's the time to really just do your job properly and to make sure that what you are doing you are doing well.
"So no real innovation, it's much more about looking at each area and trying to improve each one."
