Horner's vision: pioneering a post-season sprint race for F1 rookies

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team boss, has put forth an innovative idea to transform the post-season young driver test into a non-championship 10-car sprint race exclusively for rookies. Speaking at an FIA news conference during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Horner revealed his proposal and expressed high hopes for its potential impact.

A Fresh Opportunity for Young Drivers

Horner shared that he had presented this concept at recent Formula 1 Commission meetings. The proposed sprint race would replace the traditional post-season young driver test held in Abu Dhabi. The final grand prix of the season is set for December 8 at Yas Marina.

Horner emphasized the value of making this change:

"It would be a fantastic opportunity to do something more meaningful than just running around burning fuel and tyres and only the teams that are running those drivers knowing whether they're doing a good job or not."

By incorporating a sprint format with qualifying and a 100km race on the same day, this setup would offer up to 10 rookie drivers the chance to compete on equal footing. Teams would not have to worry excessively about potential damage to their cars.

"I think it'll be a really popular event," Horner predicted.

Haas boss Ayao Komatsu, who has 19-year-old British rookie Oliver Bearman in his race line-up for next year, also endorsed the proposal:

"I think it's great. You know, the post-season test, if we don't do things like that, you are just doing the tyre test. So I think it adds value to the day and makes it more exciting and another opportunity to put young drivers in the car."

Komatsu highlighted the rarity of opportunities for young drivers to get behind the wheel of a current Formula 1 car.

Sauber representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi echoed this sentiment, stressing the importance of providing more chances for rookies. With Sauber having the only remaining vacancy for 2025, Bravi pointed out:

"Also for us, not having a TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] programme, it's an additional opportunity to have more data and to assess not just the performance itself, also the mindset and the approach of the rookie driver."

Horner acknowledged some logistical challenges and issues like television coverage that need to be addressed. However, he believes these obstacles can be overcome:

"Obviously that puts pressure on the Sporting Working Groups and the various team managers to work with the FIA to come up with a set of regulations. But I think mainly adopting Sprint regs and so on, it's eminently doable."

He suggested a straightforward approach by using a single car from each team, making use of the allocated mileage differently. The event would take place over one day, including both qualifying and the sprint race:

"It doesn't need to be over complicated. I think it's just going to be a single car from each team rather than two cars. And, effectively, you're just using the mileage in a different way... So I think the event will take place all in one day. So a qualifying and then the equivalent of a sprint race."

With a clear will to implement this change this season, Horner and other supporters are eager to see if the rookie sprint race can become a reality, bringing fresh excitement and valuable opportunities to the Formula 1 world.

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