F1 could impose young drivers in free practice

As we know, starting in Formula 1 is not easy, even less in our time. Private testing is severely restricted these days, even more so this season with three days of pre-season testing, three more at the end of the campaign in Abu Dhabi (including one reserved for young drivers) and 25 days of tire testing conducted by Pirelli (all teams combined, each day being led by a single team).

Obviously, opportunities are scarce for young pilots. The teams can run their testers during free practice on Friday but generally prefer to leave this track time to their holders: Robert kubica (Alfa Romeo), Callum ilott (Alfa Romeo), Roy Nissany (Williams) and Guanyu Zhou (Alpine) are the only ones to have been entitled to it this year, with three sessions for the Polish veteran and the Israeli, two for the English and one for the Russian.

However, it seems that this scenario could become the norm when imposed by F1, not only to give experience to young wolves but also to make races more unpredictable.

« This weekend, Friday, there is only one hour of free practice, then we go directly to qualifying », details Stefano Domenicali, CEO of F1, on the eve of the Italian Grand Prix, where there will be a qualifying race this Saturday. « It forces you to prepare for the GP in a different way, with less data. TO My time, I remember that we did 90,000 km of tests, we were on the track every day. Today, these kilometers are done on the simulator, less and less on the track to test the cars. « 

« However, I think one of the topics that needs to be discussed and explored is the management of the training of young pilots. The topic of young pilots is very important and of interest to us, and that is why, at At a time when testing is so regulated, there are ideas that we will be discussing in the next meetings with the teams. In particular, we want to make the presence of young drivers compulsory in free practice. « 

« It will give the teams less time to test things for the race, making the race even more exciting. But it would also give young people the opportunity to test in a dynamic and competitive environment. We are discussing that because it is. important for all supply (sic) of F1. « 

This regulatory change should be discussed at the next F1 Commission meeting, which will take place in October.

With Roberto Chinchero