Liam Lawson and Juri Vips are set to get FP1 run with AlphaTauri and Red Bull in 2022 as per the new F1 rule.
After the FIA passed a resolution to provide FP1 time for rookies from 2022 onward, teams have to put aside two sessions for them who are eligible for a FP1 superlicense. Drivers with F1 experience can test, but no one with three or more races are eligible.
At the current juncture, none of the F1 teams have announced their FP1 runners and as per McLaren’s Andreas Seidl, it is unlikely that any team will run rookies in the early part of the season at least, considering the need for regulars to get more track time.
For some teams, with their own academies, it becomes an easier choice. Like with Red Bull, Lawson and Vips seems to the front-runners to get a chance. Both have already tested with AlphaTauri and Red Bull, respectively, and are set to undertake FP1 runs this year.
“It will be Liam Lawson,” said Tost when asked about their FP1 runners plan. “And of course, this is also a decision from Red Bull. Currently, the drivers are Liam Lawson and Vips, I think that Vips will drive for Red Bull Racing and Lawson for Scuderia AlphaTauri.
“He was also testing with us last year in Abu Dhabi, he did a good job, he is driving this year in Formula 2 and then we will see what the next steps will be,” summed up Tost. While he seemingly confirmed the drivers, it still needs to be made official when the time comes.
Red Bull does have three other juniors who will compete in F2 with Jehan Daruvala, Dennis Hauger and Ayumu Iwasa – where the latter two are rookies. If they plan for the second part of the year, they have the option to change depending on how the season pans out.
While Red Bull seems to have some names in their pocket, McLaren hasn’t decided what they will do. Even though Zak Brown hinted on having IndyCar drivers in the frame too, but they are not spilling out any names so far and leaving it for another time.
“To be honest, we haven’t finalised our plans yet,” said Seidl to media including FormulaRapida.net. “All this is new for us as well and this year if we decide we want to do it, we have the possibility as well to run an old car – last year’s cars.
“Due to the change in the regulations after we switched to Mercedes-powered cars, it gives us the opportunity to take some test days as well with potential candidates. But again, we haven’t made our plans up yet. Also, we won’t expect much of FP1 run in the first half of the season, therefore we still have a bit of time,” summed up Seidl.
Looking at other teams, Mercedes does have Nyck de Vries as a potential candidate, while Ferrari has Robert Shwartzman along with Antonio Fuoco. Alpine is likely to run Oscar Piastri, while Williams has Jack Aitken, Logan Sargeant and even Roy Nissany. As for the likes of Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and Haas, they can use any of the academy drivers.
Here’s details of contract, superlicense penalty points
Here’s FIA 2022 Sporting Regs changes
Here’s Jost Capito on Jamie Chadwick
[Note: The questions were asked by Mat Coch]