29/08/2024
NEWS STORY
Stefano Domenicali reveals that F1 is considering a post-season Sprint in Abu Dhabi for young drivers.
As Carlos Sainz pondered his future, the Spaniard was accused of being the bottleneck as the established F1 drivers still seeking a seat for 2025 waited on his decision in order to decide their own futures.
But what of young drivers who have risen through the ranks only to find that there is no room on the grid.
While Oliver Bearman is joining Haas and Franco Colapinto is to replace Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the current season, there are few genuine prospects for the young hopefuls, Liam Lawson being a prime example.
While the rules mandate that rookies must make at least two appearances for teams over the course of the season, the big guns leave this until the very last moment as they focus on the championship, all but signalling that they view it as an unwelcome distraction, a gimmick even.
A move to introduce 'wildcards' at nominated events was rejected and consequently the endless cycle continues, the up and coming talents getting no genuine, significant opportunities to show what they can do, while the 'old guard', the established F1 stars, continue season after season.
Now however, Stefano Domenicali has revealed that there is talk of a one-off Sprint to take place as part of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, the possibility to be discussed at the next meeting of the F1 Commission.
There is a project on the table," he tells Motorsport.com, "namely the possibility of organising a sprint race for young drivers in Abu Dhabi.
"We are reflecting on how to give young people the opportunity during the Yas Marina test to shine and gain experience," he adds, "not only by driving in the test, but also in a competitive context. It would certainly help their training, aimed at making them prepared for the next step.
"We will talk about it in detail by the end of September to understand the feasibility of this idea."
Based on the evidence of Liberty's current approach to the sport, one has to feel that this is more about a commercial move aimed at raising money as opposed to genuinely assisting up and coming talent.
No doubt there would be TV coverage and probably spectators given access.
However, there is also the question of logistics and how team members having to cope with a post-season race at the end of the busiest schedule in the history of the sport.
As for the Sprint format - which has yet to convince fan and many of the drivers - Domenicali insists that it is here to stay, indeed he has hopes of increasing the number of events.
"There is the possibility in the future, but not in 2025, of increasing the number of weekends," he says. "We see more and more interest, but obviously we cannot think of a choice like the one made by MotoGP where every weekend is a sprint.
"I believe there is space to increase the number of sprints, and we will discuss it by the end of the year."