Young drivers in F1

[ArrowsFA1]

Mario Theissen's comment, supported by Christian Horner, in today's press conference caught my eye:

"...with this year's test restrictions, you can hardly bring a young driver up to Formula One any more. There is just not enough opportunity."

Not enough opportunity? Hardly bring a driver up to F1? In recent years team owners have snapped up youngsters in the hope that they're the next big thing. Instead of allowing them to develop through the minor formulae, they've preferred to put them straight into an F1 car.

Instead of complaining about testing restrictions, Theissen should be looking at McLaren's approach to Lewis Hamilton's career. He wasn't lifted out of Formula Renault and "locked away" in Woking, he was allowed to develop as a driver in a variety of series, racing around the world, gaining experience, which he is now putting to good use.

Horner says

"I think it's going to be very tough for youngsters under the current regulations and testing agreement to actually break into running in the car because track time is at an absolute premium and I can't see us putting youngsters in the car before the end of the season."

Those youngsters should be out there racing at every opportunity, not hanging around the paddock on race weekends doing a bit of PR, and listening in on the team radio. It's not the testing regulations that forced the teams to sign them up so early, or want to put them in an F1 car immediately. The teams have race drivers. If they want to sign other drivers, then moan they don't get time in the car, well tough! Fund a seat for them in F3, GP2 or elsewhere so that they can get race experience.

This seems more about teams wanting to put pressure on the FIA for more testing, and they're using the youngsters as a smokescreen.

[wedge]

I agree that testing should be restricted but I also agree with the team principle's case in point.

It seems almost next to useless having test drivers now because the current regulations are so restrictive.

What if you in a similar predicament to Gary Paffet or Piquet Jr and you desperately want to be getting consistant track time? From their perspective it doesn't seem right that you have 3 drivers sharing a car at a test session, and only during the latter stages of the season where you're expecting more track time.

Yes, its all very well gaining race experience, but you also need to understand driving an F1 car, especially if you're someone like Massa - IMHO - jumped to F1 race seat too early.

[ArrowsFA1]

What if you in a similar predicament to Gary Paffet or Piquet Jr and you desperately want to be getting consistant track time? From their perspective it doesn't seem right that you have 3 drivers sharing a car at a test session, and only during the latter stages of the season where you're expecting more track time.

The reality is there is a limited number of race seats available in F1, and over the years F1 drivers have tended to stick around longer that they used to for a number of reasons (safety, fitness etc). As a result the test role has become rather like a feeder series in itself and some rookies seem to expect to progress to a race seat in a short space of time, when there simply isn't one available. That's the problem, not the testing regulations.

Perhaps there should be a series between F1 and GP2 for these rookies/testers who could run year old F1 chassis and get all the experience they need.

[trumperZ06]

Young racing drivers need Seat Time... seat time.... seat time !!!

There is no substitute for the experience gained under actual race conditions.

Ron Dennis & McLaren handled Lewis's schooling very well. He's young, yes... but with year's of experience by being groomed for driving in Formula 1. Not every 10 or 12 year old gets this opportunity.

Prehaps teams are signing up the youngsters too early in their careers... thereby having too many butts for too few seats.

Example: see Red Bull & NA$CAR testing and signing drivers to long-term contracts... when these kids are 15/16 years old. Helping them out by funding teams in the lower series would be much better than the... indentured serve-a-tude contracts some of these kids are signing.

There is a changing of the guard happening now @ all racing levels. Young drivers (very early 20's)... are pushing the older drivers out to pasture and there's another generation right behind them.

[BeansBeansBeans]

Perhaps there should be a series between F1 and GP2 for these rookies/testers who could run year old F1 chassis and get all the experience they need.

GP1.5?

[Valve Bounce]

Perhaps there should be a series between F1 and GP2 for these rookies/testers who could run year old F1 chassis and get all the experience they need.

They do, at the tail end of F1 races where Spyker lurks for the unsuspecting also rans.

[V12]

I haven't bothered working this out, but I would hazard a guess that the average age of the grid is lower than it used to be, so proportionally speaking, there is more opportunity for "younger drivers".

The difference being, a couple of decades ago a younger driver could hone his skills in a Dallara, Minardi, AGS or Rial, whereas the insistence of limiting F1 to a "closed shop" to 12 teams (despite there being a surplus of entries for 2008) has the knock on effect of limiting opportunities for talented up and coming drivers

[Dave B]

If we still had rep on these forums I'd be handing out a bucketload of greens for Arrows' posts on this thread

[Ian McC]

I expect a lot of the teams will now be out looking for the 'next Lewis Hamilton' though probably with mixed results, Lewis is going to be the exception rather than the rule.

The route to F1 is quite clear (varying on each countries domestic series) it's Formula BMW, Formula Renault, F3, GP2 and F1. Not all of those series need to be done, Kimi missed two of them.

[Roamy]

what they should do is combine gp2 and champ car with a Euro and Americas division. Then a 5 race shootout at the end of the year. let the youngsters RACE AT HIGH SPEED which is what they need !!!!!