When did they get so popular so quick ? Two-Three years ago nobody even knew who they were... Heck, not too long ago most folks didn 't know who a TEAM's number 2 DRIVER was...
I was wondering the same. It maybe when FIA introduced the 3rd car for practice on Friday. There were always testers before (Badoer or Larini at Ferrari), but they never used to come to GPs. Now, they are becoming starts in their own right. The Friday practice session allows these 3rd drivers to shine and it seems that being a 3rd driver will soon be the only way to get a permanent seat in F1.
Its only as F1 has become more popular that the roles of test drivers are being pushed into the spotlight. Theyve always been there, and mostly always been at the GPs. I hazily remember watching the test drivers such as Jonathan Palmer run on Thursday before Friday and Sat qualifying back in 91 or something. Its only recently that being an F1 test driver has been regarded as a step towards racing the cars imo. In the past it was the experienced racers who stood down from competition to take up testing roles, the young guns came directly from lower formulas.
I would believe all the "important" F1 drivers, ie Schumi, Kimi, Alonso are busy doing the PR stuff, and probably have negotiated contracts stating that their testing and non-race driving will be limited. Therefore the test driver gets more driving time, and more exposure to the public eye, whereas before all the #1 and #2 drivers did the majority of the work.
