Horner “fully supportive” of post-season sprint race for rookie drivers

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner would welcome the idea of a post-season sprint race for rookie drivers, claiming that it would be a great opportunity for young drivers.

It has recently emerged that Formula One is considering introducing a post-season sprint race for rookie drivers. The idea is for a short format featuring rookie drivers that would take place after the single-day test that is due to take place in Abu Dhabi on the Tuesday.

While it looks unlikely that the short race would be added to this year’s programme, it is possible that next year could see the first-ever sprint for rookie drivers.

Currently, Formula 1 teams are mandated to run a rookie in two FP1 sessions during the season. Although it has proved successful as several drivers could show their talent in a high-pressure environment, rookie drivers usually only have one or two hot laps on fresh tyres, making it tough for them to show their speed. In addition, teams are also concerned about possible crashes that could hinder their performance and programme over a race weekend.

Asked to comment on the idea, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that it would be a great opportunity for rookie drivers to show their skills.

“Well, it’s like all things in life: if you want it to happen, you make it happen. And I think there was a clear directive to say, come on, let’s get the job done for this year.

“And so 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. It doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. 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 as opposed to, you know, just performing over during a test day. So I think the event will take place all in one day.

“So a qualifying and then the equivalent of a sprint race. So, yeah, it comes at the end of a long season, but I think it’ll be a great thing. It’s a great opportunity for the young drivers, and we’re fully supportive of it,” concluded Horner.