Over the past few seasons in Formula 1 there has been a proliferation of young talents who needed little time show the world their talent and speed on the track. The various Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz have become stars of the championship and promise to give fans entertainment and great battles for at least the next decade. Knocking on the doors of the Circus, however, there are as many competitive young guys who come from the minor formulas and who struggle to get into the sport because of the strong ‘funnel’ that is created at the moment of access.
With 10 teams on the grid, in fact, part of the seats are logically reserved for ‘veterans’ who are still very competitive and a further share is taken by drivers who – regardless of their age – can guarantee money and sponsors to the team. An emblematic case of talent forced to leave Formula 1 is that of Nyck De Vries. Formula 2 champion in 2019, the Dutchman had to turn to Formula E, winning the world title this year. Mercedes is trying to bring him to the grid full-time, but finding a free seat is proving to be a difficult task even for a top-level manager like Toto Wolff.
Precisely to encourage the entry of new talents into Formula 1, it was the Austrian manager himself who launched a proposal that will certainly cause discussion and that cyclically returns for debate: The introduction of the third Formula 1 car for each team: “We could use a third car and put in a rookie – said the Mercedes team principal, as reported by RTL and Eurosport – suddenly we would have a starting grid with 30 cars,” added Wolff. While Scuderia Ferrari would not be opposed to such idea, which was also launched by the Maranello team a few years ago, the majority of the Formula 1 teams are less enthusiastic about the idea, like for example Williams, as confirmed by Jost Capito. “We can’t simply bring the number of cars on the track to 30 now – he ruled – it wouldn’t work.” – he concluded.
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