F1 teams will have to run rookies in practice from 2022

The regulation change will come into effect next year in a bit to combat concerns that have been raised over a lack of opportunities for young drivers hoping to break into F1.

So far this season only Williams, Alfa Romeo and Alpine have elected to run an alternative driver during Friday practice sessions.

“They’ll need to run a young driver on Friday, every team, a certain number of occasion each year,” F1 managing director Ross Brawn confirmed at the Italian Grand Prix.

The new regulation will ensure only young drivers can be used to avoid a repeat of the 2020 end-of-season test in Abu Dhabi, which was meant to be exclusively for rookies.

However, teams used a loophole in the rules that enabled Fernando Alonso, Stoffel Vandoorne, Robert Kubica and Sebastien Buemi to take part because they had been out of F1 for two years.

“We’re being very careful about how we define a rookie to make sure,” added Brawn.

Despite leading the F2 standings, Alpine junior Oscar Piastri appears set to miss out on the final F1 seat for 2022 at Alfa Romeo.

If Piastri were to go on to win the title and not land a seat on the 2022 F1 grid, he would be just the second F2/GP3 champion in the last five years to fail to graduate from F1’s direct feeder series at the first attempt. 

But Brawn believes the success of drivers such as George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen is proof that opportunities for young drivers exist.

“Look who we’ve seen come in,” he said. “We’ve seen George some in we’ve seen Charles come in, we’ve seen Max come in, we’ve seen other drivers come in.

“So there is the opportunity there if you’re good. It’s great to try and help, but I don’t think we’re lacking in young drivers coming through to into Formula 1.”