System 1 may introduce a non-championship race for rookies as quickly as this December, based on Purple Bull Racing boss Christian Horner.
The idea of a rookies-only race has been kicked round amongst F1 administration and crew principals for months, with Horner a principal proponent. The proposal is for a single-day occasion following the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the week after which is ordinarily reserved for younger driver testing on the Yas Marina Circuit.
With testing of present vehicles virtually completely banned, backers of the plan argue a one-day Dash occasion would provide rookies a extra consultant seat time in comparison with hours of unstructured testing.
“It’s one thing that I tabled on the final couple of System 1 commissions as a result of I feel it’s nice for the younger drivers,” Horner mentioned. “I feel that the issue with a few of the rookie checks is all of them get used for testing. You by no means know — are they working on 50 kilos, 70 kilos, 30 kilos of gasoline? What engine mode are they going? You don’t actually know. You don’t know the way the opposition are doing. So I feel this can be a non-championship race for the junior drivers. I feel it’s a implausible alternative.
“It comes on the finish of a busy season, however opposed to only working round burning gasoline and tires and [having] solely the groups which are working these drivers realizing whether or not they’re doing a great job or not, to present doubtlessly 10 drivers or 10 rookies the chance of leaping within the present vehicles and having the equal of a Dash race, I feel is implausible, and I feel it’ll be a extremely well-liked occasion.”
Expectations had been that the proposal would goal a 2025 launch, however work has just lately been accelerated to make the required rule modifications to get it over the road in time to run this 12 months, with Abu Dhabi’s GP scheduled on Dec. 8.
“It’s like all issues in life, if you’d like it to occur, you make it occur,” Horner mentioned. “I feel there was a transparent directive to say, ‘Come on, let’s get the job completed for this 12 months.’
“Clearly that places strain on the sporting working teams and the varied crew managers to work with the FIA to provide you with a set of laws, however I feel [by] primarily adopting Dash regs and so forth, it’s eminently doable.
“It doesn’t have to be overcomplicated. I feel it’s simply going to be a single automobile from every crew relatively than two vehicles, and successfully you’re simply utilizing the mileage differently versus simply performing over throughout a check day. I feel the occasion will happen all in in the future, so a qualifying after which the equal of a Dash race.
“It comes on the finish of an extended season, however I feel it’ll be an excellent factor. It’s an excellent alternative for the younger drivers, and we’re absolutely supportive of it.”
Past the sporting laws, there would even be hurdles to beat with how a brand new race would match into the associated fee cap and the restriction on energy unit components. The logistics of working the day as a race occasion relatively than a check would additionally have to be labored out, together with whether or not it’s given the identical broadcast therapy as a grand prix. However Kick Sauber crew consultant Alessandro Alunni Bravi mentioned the advantages to evaluating younger expertise can be immense in comparison with the present FP1-dependent situation.
“FP1 classes usually are not enough to showcase what you are able to do, and there are loads of dangers linked to correct efficiency in FP1 additionally for the crew,” he mentioned. “It is a very nice alternative. Additionally for us, not having a [testing of previous cars] program, it’s an extra alternative to have extra information and to evaluate not simply the efficiency itself [but] additionally the mindset and the strategy of the rookie driver.”
