F1 rookies lose chance to shine in 2024 sprint race: talks stall over cash

The bottom line was that all the teams would be present at Yas Marina on the Tuesday after the final race with one car for race drivers, for testing of the definitive 2025 Pirelli tyres, and one for the obligatory rookie running. So why not just make that day more interesting for everyone?

“It’s something that I tabled at the last couple of F1 Commissions,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner when we asked him last month about the idea.

“I think it’s great for the young drivers. And I think that the problem with some of the rookie tests is they all get used for testing, you never know are they running on 50 kilos, 70 kilos, 30 kilos of fuel? What engine mode are they going? You don’t really know.

“You don’t know how the opposition are doing. So I think this as a non-championship race for the junior drivers is a fantastic opportunity.

“It comes at the end of a busy season, but opposed to just running around burning fuel and tyres and only the teams that are running those drivers knowing whether they’re doing a good job or not, to give potentially 10 drivers or 10 rookies the opportunity of jumping in the current cars and having the equivalent of a sprint race, I think it’s fantastic. And I think it’ll be a really popular event.”

On the face of it turning a rookie test day into a short qualifying session and sprint appeared to be pretty straightforward. However, inevitably the reality proved rather more complicated.

The first task was to pass it to the Sporting Advisory Committee, the body in which the 10 team managers/sporting directors discuss and proof-test future rule changes with their FIA counterparts.

The rookie sprint required its own set of regulations, which would basically be a cut and paste of whatever was relevant from the regular World Championship rulebook, with some bespoke additions.

There was much to consider. The definition of a rookie is set in stone in the rules as someone who has started no more than two F1 races, but would drivers who didn’t qualify for a full superlicence and had only an International ‘A’ (the next step down) be allowed to take part?

There was initial talk of 25 as the age cut-off. However McLaren pointed out that Toyota WEC racer Ryo Hirakawa, one of the reserves it might ultimately call upon, is 30.

At one stage the idea was to not have full pitcrews on hand, despite teams needing a lot of people to run two cars on a normal test day.

However it was accepted that with only 10 drivers on the grid it would be unfortunate if someone came in on the first lap with wing damage or a puncture and wasn’t able to resume.

To complicate matters one team wanted to use its main reserve driver for the actual sprint, while having another youngster — whose backers have already paid for the privilege — do the actual testing on the rookie day.

On the financial regs side there was a key issue of whether any damage sustained in the rookie event should fall inside or outside the cost cap? Although this would be the final competitive appearance for the cars, teams would still want them repaired for testing and show runs in future.

The sporting directors are pretty smart bunch, and having addressed all such issues the consensus from their side was that a rookie sprint was achievable.

F1 asked the teams to contribute to its costs, an idea that didn’t get a lot of support…

So why did the idea fall down in the end? For a start there were multiple logistical concerns to consider, most of which also had a financial impact.

It would require a full complement of FIA race control and technical staff and stewards to stay on for a couple of extra days, and someone would have to pay for that.

Usually Formula One Management would start breaking down its TV broadcasting facilities on Sunday night/Monday morning ready for transport home, but all that would have to be kept on site for a couple of extra days, along with the staff.

Making the Tuesday a race rather than a test required much more extensive marshalling coverage, and the folk who volunteer to do the GP weekend, some of whom fly in from overseas, wouldn’t necessarily be available. An FIA-run race event also has much more complex medical requirements than a test.

The commercial element was a key part of the story. F1 hoped to find a sponsor to bankroll a standalone race, and that didn’t happen in the time available. In Wednesday’s meeting CEO Stefano Domenicali asked the teams to contribute to his organisation’s costs, an idea that didn’t get a lot of support, as you might imagine…

F1 also had to get broadcasters on board, as the sprint was outside their regular deals to show the 24 GPs. However, a Tuesday afternoon event with 10 cars and drivers largely unknown to the public was something of a hard sell. Also any TV company wanting to cover it properly would have to keep their staff in Abu Dhabi for a couple of extra days.

Had there been a massive windfall of cash associated with the event then no doubt all of the above could have been addressed, even at short notice.

In the end the consensus was that the whole thing had been a little too rushed, especially in terms of the commercial arrangements, and that squeezing it into the schedule at relatively short notice was not wise.

The better option was to take some time and do it properly in 2025, possibly even with a full grid of 20 cars, should that turn out to be a realistic option.

Fundamentally the rookie sprint is a good idea. Had it happened this year the field would likely have included 2025 race drivers Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman and Jack Doohan (Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson have already lost their two-race rookie status), and it would have obviously provided useful extra experience for them.

However a sprint would have been a far bigger deal for the other seven drivers on the grid, for whom it represented a golden opportunity to showcase their talents.

Teams will also have a valuable opportunity to sell to young prospects. There are obviously drivers with backing who would never be able to land a full-time race seat on a grid with so few openings, but who could pay for a test programme that culminates in a sprint race – one that might even help them land a seat on merit.

F1 is a very insular world. A driver can win F2 races and even shine in an FP1 session, but there’s no substitute for actually taking part in a race – even a rookie sprint – under the noses of the entire pitlane. A good showing will wake everyone up to the fact that you can actually do the job.

Consider how Oliver Bearman guaranteed himself a future career at the top level with his performance in Jeddah, and how Franco Colapinto has done the same with his first outings.

For the likes of Robert Shwartzman, Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire, and other drivers who currently look likely to miss the F1 boat, a decent showing in a rookie sprint could be a game changer, and ultimately help steer them to a full-time seat. They now have to wait another year for that chance to come.

“For many years F1 has been always very conservative with drivers,” Sauber team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi told Motor Sport.

“Then, of course, we had Max Verstappen, who changed completely the approach. He arrived in F1 when he was 17 years old, and he was immediately able to match the performance of more experienced drivers.

“We have seen this year with Bearman in Jeddah and Baku, two very, very critical tracks for a rookie, that if you have the talent, if you have the right mindset, you can perform even with very limited experience with both the track and the car.

“There is a strong platform in F2. There are young drivers that can be immediately competitive, who are motivated, and at the same time are able to cope with the pressure.”

As Horner indicated even teams that know their own young drivers well from testing and sim running want them thrown in at the deep end to see what they can do. It’s sink or swim time.

“I think that it’s even more beneficial for team like us in our situation,” says Alunni Bravi. “Because we don’t have a TPC programme like other teams.

“The only opportunities for us are FP1 sessions, which are limited to two. And according to the collaboration agreement with Ferrari, these are for the Ferrari young drivers. So for us the possibility to use one of our reserve drivers in a sprint race will be extremely valuable.

“It’s a very, very good platform to assess driver’s performance, and to see also the level of development that the driver needs, to understand how much he needs to improve, and what kind of work we can do with him to further develop his skill.”

If the 2025 event is confirmed teams will have a valuable opportunity to sell. There are F2 drivers with good backing who would never be able to land a full-time F1 race seat on a grid with so few openings, but who could pay for a test programme that culminates in the sprint race – one that might even help them one day land a seat on merit.

It’s worth noting too that assuming it does go ahead next year the rookie sprint will make a little history as the first non-championship F1 event to be held since the 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

Those who take part but subsequently never make to a ‘real’ grid will thus become statistical oddities – F1 drivers with an asterisk by their names…