Hearts in the Right Spot: Is It Wise?
George Russell and Lando Norris have both voiced their agreement in lessening the amount of rehearsal periods F1 drivers receive during an event weekend. At present, drivers are afforded three practice runs on Friday, qualifying transpires on Saturday, and the headline occasion appears on a Sunday.
The majority of spectators tune in to catch the latest action of their favorite F1 racers, observe the amazing racing and appreciate the beauty of the Aston Martin Vantage safety car. However, more is happening in the shadows. Oftentimes, the F2 and F3 circuits run in tandem with the F1 tours, which is why this topic is especially noteworthy.
In a Q&A session with Motorsport.com, George Russell expressed his viewpoint that young F2 and F3 drivers should have more opportunities on the course, however they are currently limited due to having only three practice laps in F1.
When asked if three practice sessions were necessary, Russell replied: “No. I don’t think it’s right that Formula 1 has three times the amount of practice that the F3 and F2 categories have. They should be the ones to get more practice, since they have fewer races and don’t get to test as often.”
George Russell’s Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi recently voiced his support for introducing more practice sessions in Formula 1, and it appears that Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, is in agreement. However, Nico’s predecessor, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher’s son, Mick Norris, has come out in support of cutting down on F1 practice sessions, but from a financial perspective. “For my time in F2, when you see the cost of how much it is to do this series versus the amount (sic) of laps you get, it’s shocking… it’s really stupid,” Norris said. “To give them more track time… it’s definitely a good thing for junior drivers to get that from Formula 1.”
Neither driver is keen on completely scrapping practice sessions. “It’s clear that the more you practice, the more prepared you’ll be, and the more comfortable you’ll feel with the car,” noted Russell. Norris, on the other hand, appears to favour having at least one practice session. “I really like the idea of FP1 leading straight into qualifying; it puts me under pressure and puts the engineers under a bit more pressure, so we get straight into the action,” he said.
Max Verstappen, the reigning champion, has been very vocal about his opinion on the matter: to leave things as they are. “I’m not a big fan of how many races we do nowadays,” he said. “I’m also not in favor of changing the whole format. When you have as many races as we do, maybe you can cut out one practice session, but apart from that, I don’t think there is a need to change much.”
Meanwhile, F1 is looking at abandoning all practice sessions. In a recent statement, Stefano Domenicali–F1’s CEO–revealed his intention to scrap these widely disliked trainings that are nonetheless advantageous to engineers. With three hours on the track, drivers and the team can collect data needed to build a competitive setup and devise an effective race-winning plan.
From our perspective, all the reasons proposed stand. Providing F2 and F3 racers extra time on the course to build their capabilities and illustrate their backers is highly sensible, and, far from being the most pressing concern in motorsport, isn’t really a major difficulty at present.
With Verstappen being such a powerful presence, it’s possible that viewers might become disinterested because the races could be seen as dull. Even the reigning world champion, who has the most to lose, agrees. “The only thing you have to look at is making the field closer,” stated Verstappen, “so the gaps between all teams, which leads to more thrilling racing overall.”
Formula 1 is in an odd predicament, and it looks as though matters won’t be rectified until the fresh power unit rules arrive in 2026. Over that time, many new teams should take up the sport, with a good probability of seeing an all-American team on the starting line.
At the moment, F1 only appears able to push through with adding more races and duplicating the amount of Sprint Qualifiers on Saturday. The majority of F1 competitors have been eloquent about their dislike for this type of race, mainly due to the potential harm it might cause. They are limited to utilising three of every primary power source piece, thus additional contests amplify tension on the cars.
This year, teams will take part in more competitions and short sprints than ever before, yet they will still be restricted to the same maximum quantity of parts.
Should Formula 1 discard practice sessions and dedicate that period to Formula 2 and 3 drivers? Or would a lack of development time and data debilitate the sport at its highest level? Edit: Should Formula 1 forgo practice sessions and allocate that time to Formula 2 and 3 drivers? Or would diminished development time and data undermine the top tier of motorsport?
