Discussions over a Formula 1 rookie sprint to be held on the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi GP are ramping up – however it is still not certain that the event will take place.
The idea emerged from an F1 Commission meeting with a view to making more use of the end-of-season young driver test day at the Yas Marina circuit.
At the moment December 10 is still set to follow the same format as last year’s post-season test as defined in the FIA sporting regulations, with all teams obliged to run two cars – one for rookies (who have started two or fewer F1 races) and one with a race driver conducting Pirelli testing with 2025 tyres.
The initial idea was to have the testing lead into a sprint event for the young drivers on the following day, but that has already been reserved for FIA F2 testing, while a suggestion that all 20 cars be raced by rookies was also quickly dropped.
The provisional plan now is to break up the usual two-car Tuesday testing with a qualifying session for 10 rookies, followed by the sprint at the end of the day.
There are still lots of logistical problems to be addressed, while provision also has to be made in the regulations, which are currently geared for the test session format.
The details will be discussed by the FIA, F1 and team sporting directors at a Sporting Advisory Committee meeting this week.
If it is ultimately deemed too late for a rookie sprint to be organised for this year there is a strong possibility that the format could be incorporated into the 2025 regulations.
The idea has obvious appeal for those teams who will have a rookie race driver in 2025, with Jack Doohan and Oliver Bearman already confirmed at Alpine and Haas respectively, and Kimi Antonelli set to be named soon at Mercedes.
Other teams who have obvious candidates with prior FP1 experience include Aston Martin with Felipe Drugovich, Ferrari with Robert Shwartzman, Williams with Franco Colapinto and Zak O’Sullivan, and Red Bull/VCARB with Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa.
If the sprint plans are confirmed teams will have still plenty of time to give FP1 mileage to other drivers who have not yet driven a current F1 car in an official session.
Adam Cooper F1 