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Back in September James Allen wrote a brilliant article http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/...-a-big-problem-for-itself-in-five-years-time/ on the dangers that F1 is facing in five-years time. Obviously in motorsports, budget issues are a huge concern going forward, especially as some teams are on the edge of their own financial meltdown and looking for drivers to bring money, whether or not they are deserving of the seat. The main focus of Allen’s article was how these financial constraints were hurting young driver development and how F1 may not see another Vettel, Hamilton or Alonso for years to come. I do not think there is a perfect answer, but there is one big area that can be brought back into focus – testing.
Testing, primarily in-season, has been all but banned from modern-day F1 as a cost control to keep the big teams like Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren from overpowering the sport and knocking out the smaller teams like Force India or Sauber. Long gone are the days of when a Ferrari could have a F1 race team, a separate in-season test team and a third testing team that focused on the upcoming season, and they should continue to be gone. The money spent on these programs was ridiculously high and although there should be limits on in-season testing for this very reason, it is still a necessity for all F1 teams, not only for performance developments, but more importantly, driver development. Currently there is only one real option where a driver can log miles in an F1 car without being on the Formula 1 grid, and that is as the test driver for Pirelli’s tire testing program. This is what former Toro Rosso driver and current BBC analyst Jamie Alguersuari did after losing his seat for the 2012 season. Although this has been great for Alguersuari’s experience, it is obviously not a viable option for all of the other F1 hopefuls going forward. This is exactly why F1 needs to lift its ban on testing and open the door a little more for F1’s future drivers.
As mentioned earlier, testing was banned, or rather heavily modified, to control costs and keep the big teams from strong arming the little guys on the development race. Luckily, there are still a few options that Formula 1 needs to take into consideration so the sport can continue to prosper and grow. First let’s take a look at in-season testing. In 2012 F1 had one in-season test at Mugello that allowed for some teams to catch back up to the rest of the field, but many young drivers were not utilized during that test, and this in-season test will be scrapped for 2013. The F1 weekend is a long, stressful few days that ends abruptly on Sunday immediately after the race. But, while the teams are already at circuits like Barcelona, Silverstone, Abu Dhabi, Monza, wherever, why not stick around and test on Monday following the Grand Prix? This Monday test day would be available only for reserve/test drivers and F1 rookies who are looking to get miles in a car and still allow teams to collect data on new parts. If needed, put a cap on laps ran for the day at say, 125. Three or four of these per season would not put much of a dent in the teams pocketbook, but would allow for many miles to be logged by the up and coming drivers. Not to mention, this would relieve stress on the teams who scramble to put on, test and tweak new parts every Friday during Free Practice, thus allowing development to be more consistent and cost-effective.
Speaking of Friday Free Practice, take the current F1 drivers out of the cars for all of FP1, handing their cars over again to reserve/test drivers for the entire hour and a half session. Similar to my in-season testing idea, F1 rookies would also be allowed to drive. This idea is partially allowed in F1 today, but very few teams take advantage of the option, thankfully at Williams, Sauber, Caterham, Force India, Marussia and HRT it is very common to see a reserve driver in the car on Friday mornings, giving those guys their, albeit short, chance. Make this mandatory across the grid and young drivers get an extra 25-30 hours of F1 seat time in season. The remainder of the weekend would be only for current F1 drivers.
This leads us to winter testing. F1 tests in the ever-shortening off season for about 10 to 12 days, allowing the teams to log a comfortable amount of data and miles before the opening race of the upcoming season. These test days are broken up into two sessions - a morning session and an afternoon session. Why not use the same idea here as my Friday Free Practice idea. Give the reserve/test drivers (and future rookies) the morning session, then save the afternoon sessions strictly for the current F1 drivers. This again allows for the young drivers to log another 30 or so hours in an F1 car and a perfect opportunity to receive more personal coaching from the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso or Heikki Kovalainen and their engineers.
Like I said earlier, this is not the perfect option, but it helps develop young drivers in a fairly cost-effective way for the teams and series. We will never again see the days where some drivers were able to log 10,000+miles in an F1 car before their first race, but taking these simple steps will allow for drivers to be more prepared for the sport, instead of just throwing them in the car and saying, “Okay kid, here’s your chance, don’t screw it up.” F1 normally thinks in the now, or short-term, but needs to begin looking out further and getting guys like Rossi, Daly, Valsecchi and Frijns much needed miles is key to the sport's success. They are, after all, the future of F1.
Testing, primarily in-season, has been all but banned from modern-day F1 as a cost control to keep the big teams like Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren from overpowering the sport and knocking out the smaller teams like Force India or Sauber. Long gone are the days of when a Ferrari could have a F1 race team, a separate in-season test team and a third testing team that focused on the upcoming season, and they should continue to be gone. The money spent on these programs was ridiculously high and although there should be limits on in-season testing for this very reason, it is still a necessity for all F1 teams, not only for performance developments, but more importantly, driver development. Currently there is only one real option where a driver can log miles in an F1 car without being on the Formula 1 grid, and that is as the test driver for Pirelli’s tire testing program. This is what former Toro Rosso driver and current BBC analyst Jamie Alguersuari did after losing his seat for the 2012 season. Although this has been great for Alguersuari’s experience, it is obviously not a viable option for all of the other F1 hopefuls going forward. This is exactly why F1 needs to lift its ban on testing and open the door a little more for F1’s future drivers.
As mentioned earlier, testing was banned, or rather heavily modified, to control costs and keep the big teams from strong arming the little guys on the development race. Luckily, there are still a few options that Formula 1 needs to take into consideration so the sport can continue to prosper and grow. First let’s take a look at in-season testing. In 2012 F1 had one in-season test at Mugello that allowed for some teams to catch back up to the rest of the field, but many young drivers were not utilized during that test, and this in-season test will be scrapped for 2013. The F1 weekend is a long, stressful few days that ends abruptly on Sunday immediately after the race. But, while the teams are already at circuits like Barcelona, Silverstone, Abu Dhabi, Monza, wherever, why not stick around and test on Monday following the Grand Prix? This Monday test day would be available only for reserve/test drivers and F1 rookies who are looking to get miles in a car and still allow teams to collect data on new parts. If needed, put a cap on laps ran for the day at say, 125. Three or four of these per season would not put much of a dent in the teams pocketbook, but would allow for many miles to be logged by the up and coming drivers. Not to mention, this would relieve stress on the teams who scramble to put on, test and tweak new parts every Friday during Free Practice, thus allowing development to be more consistent and cost-effective.
Speaking of Friday Free Practice, take the current F1 drivers out of the cars for all of FP1, handing their cars over again to reserve/test drivers for the entire hour and a half session. Similar to my in-season testing idea, F1 rookies would also be allowed to drive. This idea is partially allowed in F1 today, but very few teams take advantage of the option, thankfully at Williams, Sauber, Caterham, Force India, Marussia and HRT it is very common to see a reserve driver in the car on Friday mornings, giving those guys their, albeit short, chance. Make this mandatory across the grid and young drivers get an extra 25-30 hours of F1 seat time in season. The remainder of the weekend would be only for current F1 drivers.
This leads us to winter testing. F1 tests in the ever-shortening off season for about 10 to 12 days, allowing the teams to log a comfortable amount of data and miles before the opening race of the upcoming season. These test days are broken up into two sessions - a morning session and an afternoon session. Why not use the same idea here as my Friday Free Practice idea. Give the reserve/test drivers (and future rookies) the morning session, then save the afternoon sessions strictly for the current F1 drivers. This again allows for the young drivers to log another 30 or so hours in an F1 car and a perfect opportunity to receive more personal coaching from the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso or Heikki Kovalainen and their engineers.
Like I said earlier, this is not the perfect option, but it helps develop young drivers in a fairly cost-effective way for the teams and series. We will never again see the days where some drivers were able to log 10,000+miles in an F1 car before their first race, but taking these simple steps will allow for drivers to be more prepared for the sport, instead of just throwing them in the car and saying, “Okay kid, here’s your chance, don’t screw it up.” F1 normally thinks in the now, or short-term, but needs to begin looking out further and getting guys like Rossi, Daly, Valsecchi and Frijns much needed miles is key to the sport's success. They are, after all, the future of F1.
