Lotus team boss Eric Boullier believes that the lack of testing in Formula 1 is a part of what is making the races so unpredictable this year.
The 2012 season has generated a record six different winners in the first six races, making it one of the sport's most exciting starts to a campaign in recent years. Although the new Pirelli tires have been highlighted as the main reason for the unpredictability, Boullier believes that the fact that teams cannot test their updates before the race weekends is a big contributing factor.
"Part of the unpredictability is coming from the fact that we have no more testing," said Boullier. "You have to come with new parts and new ideas in Friday testing. You cannot do it one week [earlier] somewhere in Spain; you have to do it on a race weekend."
The Frenchman also feels there is a need to rethink the testing format in order to help teams with their developments during the season. However, he has made it clear that his team is not in favor of adding extra in-season tests.
"The issue is that testing costs a lot of money and one of the real cost-saving measures that was brought in was to stop the testing," he added. "I think we need to rethink the format of testing.
"We are not in favor of in-season testing because we are not equipped for this – the calendar does not fit very well and we have to use the same crew, and we cannot afford to have another testing crew.
"Today we need a better format that is using everything, and maybe we can rethink about the format of testing later. [Maybe] split the tests. If you have a calendar with a big slot in June then maybe you can have a test in June."