F1 team bosses are positive about the idea of staging a sprint race for rookies post the Abu Dhabi GP, in place of the one-day Pirelli tyre test programme.
Usually Pirelli has not just regular drivers testing the tyres for the following F1 season, they get youngsters or rookies too to get a day out in the car along with running a programme for the tyre manufacturer in preparation of the new season.
But in the recent F1 Commission meetings, a new idea was put forward which gathered momentum after team bosses sounded positive about the same. Instead of the young drivers’ test, they would stage a small qualifying session, which will be followed by a sprint race for 10 cars.
It would take place on the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina Circuit. The idea likely came via Red Bull’s Christian Horner and none of his rival team bosses opposed it, even though the race part will add more workload on the F1 teams, after a long calendar.
Here’s what some of the F1 team bosses said –
Ayao Komatsu: “Yeah, I think it’s great. You know, the post-season test, if we don’t do things like that, you are just doing the tyre test. So I think it adds value to the day and makes it more exciting and another opportunity to put young drivers in the car. These days, it’s such a rare opportunity for young drivers to get in the current Formula 1 car. So I think it’s really an interesting move.”
Alessandro Alunni Bravi: “It’s important to give the rookies more opportunities, to show them. We know how much it’s difficult to get into Formula 1, so I think that FP1 sessions are not sufficient to showcase what you can do. and there are a lot of risks linked to proper performance in FP1 also for the team. This is a really nice opportunity. Also for us, not having a TPC program it’s an additional opportunity to have more data and to assess not just the performance itself, also the mindset and the approach of the rookie driver.”
Christian Horner: “Yeah, it’s something that I tabled at the last couple of Formula 1 Commissions because I think it’s great for the young drivers. And I think that the problem with some of the rookie tests is they all get used for testing. You never know, are they running on 50 kilos, 70 kilos, 30 kilos of fuel? What engine mode are they going? You don’t really know. You don’t know how the opposition are doing. So I think this is a non-championship race for the junior drivers.
“I think it’s a fantastic opportunity and I think that it comes at the end of a busy season, but opposed to just running around burning fuel and tyres and only the teams that are running those drivers knowing whether they’re doing a good job or not to give potentially 10 drivers or 10 rookies the opportunity of jumping in the current cars and having the equivalent of a Sprint race, I think is fantastic. And I think it’ll be a really popular event.”
Toto Wolff: “Well, we discussed it in the F1 Commission and I think we’re keen in giving rookie drivers more opportunity. The stretch is that if you give it to them on a Grand Prix race weekend, it’s going to impact the main drivers, or it could impact the main drivers’ performances. If you let them race on a main weekend, it could influence the race result, which could be pretty damaging if you’re fighting for a championship. So we really didn’t find another way of letting them go through this whole sequence of a race weekend, pushing the car, being able to make comparisons.
“Because with a day of racing in Abu Dhabi, they’re all going to be on the same fuel. They’re all going to be on the same tyre. And it will be interesting to see how they compare in those respective cars. And the season is finished. It’s going to be a strain for the team, obviously, because we have another day. But we are in the entertainment industry and that’s the best idea so far that we have come up to give them more driving time. I think there was no one in the room that didn’t support the idea because we have all the same objectives. We want to give them more exposure, we want to give them running time and that is where we landed.”
Frederic Vasseur: “Yeah, with the current regulation and the three days of testing that you have during the winter, it’s not easy to give them mileage. On the top, we were thinking to give them the opportunity to do more FP1, but they are doing already 14 races in F2. On the top of this, we have the Sprint races where you can’t give the FP1. Plus some tracks, it’s not easy. We will never give up the FP1 in Singapore or Monaco or Baku. It means that At the end of the day, we don’t have so many opportunities to give them the opportunity to test the car in the real condition and outside of the TPC system. And I think this opportunity could be a good one to also to give them the full weekend with a free practice quality and start. And so for sure, it’s not easy to organise and so, but I’m supportive.”
Peter Bayer: “I think if you see today how well the single-seater pyramid is working from karting, Formula 4, 3, 2, how much talent is coming up. And obviously at the top there’s only 20 seats, so it’s quite complex for these guys to show their skills and at the same time FP1… I mean, as Toto just said, we had Kimi in his first FP1, there is huge expectation, everybody’s watching it. You actually don’t know on what tyre he will go out. Sometimes there’s an accident, like last week, and then they get five minute time to run. So I think it would be great also because you know we would reach out to the younger fan base which is something that you know we’re keen to do and overall we would be certainly supportive.”
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