New F1 plan: Compulsory rookie driving in free practice on friday

Formula 1 is looking to introduce a new rule next year about Friday's free practice sessions. Formula One chief Ross Brawn has confirmed to Motorsport.com confirmed that there are plans to make it mandatory for rookies to drive in the Friday practice sessions from 2022.

Defining rookie

Many teams already give young drivers a chance in free practice, but it has never been an obligation. So that may be about to change next season. "I think next year it will be the case that every team has to let a young driver drive on Friday, every team a certain number of times," Brawn said.

What exactly is covered by the term rookie, however, is still a matter of debate. "We are very careful about how we define a rookie. So we'll have to wait and see how we define that exactly." How many mandatory weekends this will involve is not yet clear. On the weekends with a sprint race, the obligation will probably not be there because the first free practice is the only possibility for the drivers to drive for the qualification.

No shortage of young drivers

However, there are not many available racing seats. So it will be difficult for the young drivers to actually progress to Formula 1. Brawn sees it a lot more positively though. "Look at who we've seen come into Formula 1, we've seen George [Russell], Charles [Leclerc] and Max [Verstappen] come in last years. So there's the opportunity there. It's great to try and help, but I don't think we have a shortage of young drivers moving on to F1."