The end is in sight for Formula One’s record-breaking 24-race long season. Eight races from now in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 8, both championships will have been settled in what has rapidly evolved into a compelling season.
But that may not be the end of F1’s racing action for 2024.
F1 officials and teams are evaluating a rookies-only race to be held in Abu Dhabi after the end of the season.
Each year, all teams 10 participate in the annual postseason test at the Yas Marina Circuit, scheduled two days after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Teams typically run two cars: one reserved for tire testing to help inform Pirelli’s compound designs for the following year and one for a young driver to give them more track time.
Discussions are taking place about turning part of this test day into a race for the young drivers. After the idea emerged at an F1 Commission meeting among team principals as part of a push to give their juniors more track time, F1’s Sporting Advisory Committee (SAC) is now evaluating the proposal’s viability and how it could work.
“It’s going to be a strain for the team because we have another day,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “But we are in the entertainment industry, and that’s the best idea so far that we have come up with to give them more driving time.”
The origins of the idea
Despite having several young drivers on their books, all F1 teams are limited in terms of the track time they can provide throughout a season.
Testing in the current-year car is limited to pre-season running and a handful of in-season filming days. It means teams are reluctant to give this to anyone besides its race drivers, given how valuable it is for them to gain more information and time behind the wheel, particularly in the early part of the year.
Outside of this, teams are allowed to do Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) running using machinery that is at least two years old. Alpine has conducted plenty of this with Jack Doohan this year, helping his preparations for his 2025 race seat. Mercedes also used it to evaluate Andrea Kimi Antonelli before his promotion as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
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However, not all teams can run TPC, be it due to an absence of previous machinery or the associated costs, putting their young drivers at a disadvantage. Sauber, Williams and Haas currently do not hold TPC days but plan to do so.
To encourage teams to give their young drivers more track time, F1 introduced a new rule for 2022 that meant each driver had to sit out one FP1 session per year. This gave teams two opportunities to put a ‘rookie’ driver (defined as making two grand prix starts or less) in the car.
The feeling was that, while this is helpful, there are natural limits on when teams would do this running. Street circuits are widely considered no-gos due to their difficulty and crash risk. At the same time, teams are uneasy about putting rookies in the car when evaluating upgrades as that time will be more valuable for their race drivers.
“We will never give up the FP1 in Singapore, Monaco or Baku,” said Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur. “It means that at the end of the day, we don’t have so many opportunities to give them the opportunity to test the car in the real condition and outside of the TPC system.”
One possibility discussed by the team principals was entering rookies to grands prix as ‘wildcard’ entries. But it quickly became clear this was not feasible if it would require benching a regular race driver for a weekend, profoundly complicating the proposal.
This led to the alternative idea of holding a bespoke race for rookies after Abu Dhabi as part of the postseason running. At Monza, Wolff said there was “no one in the room that didn’t support the idea because we all have the same objectives” to highlight their young drivers better and give them more exposure.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Sauber’s team representative, told The Athletic that “the target of everybody is to increase the show and also to give more opportunities to rookie drivers to have something tangible to showcase their value.”
Ollie Bearman, who will join Haas in 2025, ran FP1 for the team in Abu Dhabi last year. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
The arguments for and against
Even though teams support the idea in principle, a few details need to be finalized before it can proceed.
The SAC, which comprises sporting officials from all 10 teams, F1 and the FIA, will explore the plan’s details before delivering a verdict on its viability to the F1 Commission.
The obvious benefit to the plan is that it will put young drivers in the closest thing to a real-world F1 race situation without taking part in a grand prix. As valuable as TPC running and the FP1 sessions may be, nothing compares to a weekend build-up across practice, qualifying and a race.
All the running would be condensed into the Tuesday after Abu Dhabi. The tire test running for the existing drivers would still take place in the early part of the day, possibly giving drivers on the move a chance to get in some early running for their new teams if permitted. There would be practice time for the rookies, a qualifying session, and a sprint race.
Qualifying, in particular, would be a good benchmark for the young drivers, given they’ll be driving the same cars as their full-time counterparts on the same track just a few days later. Similar to the reasons for doing the postseason test in Abu Dhabi, as all the teams will already be on-site with their cars, there would be no added logistical strain to make the race happen.
But there is the obvious strain on personnel by adding another race, even a sprint, onto the end of what is already an exhausting season. While a lighter lift to a grand prix, a rookie race would likely require added team presence compared to simply completing the tire test, and also comes at the end of a triple-header spanning Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The SAC also needs to figure out many of the regulatory demands of potentially running the race. This runs from simple things, such as how to define the race (which would likely be called a “sprint” and, naturally, won’t count for points or toward the championship) to questions over cost cap alterations and possible car part carryover, given the stability in the regulations between 2024 and 2025.
Discussions will also occur over whether teams will field one or two cars each, but the feeling is that one car (making for a 10-car field) is more likely. After a tough season, Alunni Bravi said running one car per team would be “easier” on everyone.
There is also the ‘so what?’ question. F1 would be eager to ensure the rookie race gets a full broadcast package, spotlighting the young drivers for a mid-week race and serving as an extra offering for fans to watch at home. However, once this event is done, there is no additional promotional plan beyond reverting to the youngsters popping up in two FP1s again next year. The attention will quickly fade, particularly as F1 pivots to 2025 with significant driver changes across the grid.
The general feeling across the teams so far is quietly positive. If the SAC comes back and deems the plan doable and can iron out the regulatory kinks, and if the F1 Commission gives its blessing, F1’s first rookie race could get the green light for December.
“For sure, it’s not easy to organize,” said Vasseur. “But I’m supportive.”
Additional reporting by Madeline Coleman.
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Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
