A desire for change in F1
At the end of last season, we had discussed the interest of having a championship for young drivers. It seems that the idea is gaining traction and is a sign of a desire for change from the status quo.
The idea we put forward last November was to grant a special scale to drivers up to 25 years old in order to showcase them and thus enhance the visibility of their respective teams.
Since then the situation has hardly improved, as the sad spectacle of the grid in Australia, with only 16 cars present, has since made it clear to everyone the existential crisis in which F1 currently finds itself.
The idea is now being taken up by another publication, but with some modifications. This time, it would involve fielding a third car in certain European races to have a grid of at least 24 single-seaters.
The author’s idea would be to bring in young drivers to give them experience not just in a Friday morning session but throughout the entire Grand Prix. It’s worth noting that the list of these young contenders at the doors of F1 is significant, as the author points out: Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren, Raffaele Marciello at Ferrari/Sauber, Alexander Rossi or Jordan King at Manor, Pascal Wehrlein at Mercedes/Sahara Force India, Alex Lynn for Williams, Jolyon Palmer or Esteban Ocon at Lotus, Pierre Gasly or Dean Stoneman at Toro Rosso…
Nevertheless, the plan to involve them in a European race, if it allows for transportation cost reduction, is not practically feasible: all of these drivers, with the notable exception of Dean Stoneman, are competing in GP2. It would be physically impossible for these drivers to defend their chances in the GP2 championship while participating in the full program of an F1 weekend, as each GP2 weekend includes a practice session, a qualifying session, and two races, which take place either just before or just after an F1 session.
On the other hand, the idea of having them race could make more sense for races that are not on the F1 calendar, namely those in Asia and across the Atlantic. In this case, they would be able to learn tracks that they do not have the opportunity to frequent in their development categories and could then benefit from an additional step in their training.
These young drivers would also be able to bring in new sponsors, attracted by the prospect of a better return on investment by betting on a promising driver from the start while having to inject a lower budget than a full-time seat in F1. For the teams, this would represent an additional source of income, as if, for example, Sauber had been able to run Giedo van der Garde at the Australian Grand Prix instead of paying him to break his contract.
Such a promotion of young drivers would align with recent statements from Paul Hembery, seeking to make drivers the focus of discussions again, rather than the political and financial machinations currently cluttering the paddock, as the general public would be able to discover the next generation of drivers earlier.
We can also note that fans also want to make their voices heard by using social media. Thus last week, an anonymous popular initiative was launched, titled #SavingF1, whose agenda is fan-oriented: « #SavingF1 is a popular campaign that calls on fans to express their support for a fairer, more accessible, and more sustainable Formula 1, putting fans and the sport we love first. Let’s let the bankers who currently own our sport know that enough is enough. It’s time to eject the crisis out of Formula One. »
The debate thus seems to be underway and gaining momentum. It remains for the leaders to take it into account…
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
