Drivers in favor of fewer free practice sessions

La Formula 1 is evolving, and so is its race weekend format. After a new arrangement with the establishment of the Sprint race, the President of sport Stefano Domenicali declared to be “supporter of the cancellation of free testing sessions, which are of great use to engineers but which the public does not like”. An idea discussed between the pilots, who tend to agree with this potential modification: “ I don't think it's fair that we have three times as many tests in Formula 1 compared to the F2 and F3, argues in particular George Russell. They should be the ones allowed more sessions, especially since they do fewer races, they can't try things often. »

From there to completely eliminating free trial sessions? “ I think one session is enough for all of us, to try different things, delays the pilot Mercedes. We're at the peak of motorsport, and it's difficult to have a car at the start of the season that you can't try anything with. That's one of the beauties of this sport: you have 60 minutes to try things, to improve. If this is only done during sessions where you earn points, you will be less tempted to try things He concludes.

A position taken by Russell notably shared by Pierre Gasly, for whom three sessions are “ useless from a pilot's point of view » : « You can work on details and refine the balance of the car for the weekend but, overall, one or two sessions maximum would be more than enough for us. » An opinion generally shared by the drivers, where the rookie Nyck de Vries adds a nuance: “ If a change is made, it must be the same for everyone. In the junior categories, we are used to only having one free practice session so we could do less too. »

If a change in the format of a Grand Prix weekend in the premier category does not seem to disturb the young drivers on the grid, the veteran Nico Hulkenberg admits preferring the current structure: “ Since I have been in Formula 1, there have always been three free practice sessions. And I think that's the right way to build a weekend: Friday with training, a more important Saturday where tensions increase and the climax on Sunday, the main day, so I don't have obviously want to change anything », declares the German who began his career in Formula 1 in 2010.

So, Russell, president of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), tries to find a compromise: “ Have the first session on Friday afternoon, or evening so there is less pressure on the stables to arrive. If you have your first session on Friday morning, you have to be sure to be there on Thursday, which requires having the teams travel on Wednesdayhe observes. If you can do the road on Thursday morning, this added to 24 races a year, you have almost an extra month at home where you can sleep at home, which is huge for everyone in the paddock. So I would say a Sprint format, but making sure the first session is delayed. »

This season of 23 meetings, the longest in the history of the premier category, will already see six modifications to the classic format of a race weekend with 6 sprint qualifications: in Baku (Azerbaijan), in Spielberg (Austria ), at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), as well as in Qatar, on the Austin route in the United States and in Brazil.

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