George Russell weighs in on F1 practice reduction debate

Mercedes

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Russell weighs in on F1 practice reduction debate

Sam Hall

Thursday 13 April 2023 09:57

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George Russell has suggested F1 teams could still perform at a high level if the number of practice sessions was reduced from three to one.

Practice sessions were recently reduced in length from 90 minutes to just 60.

But ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, it was suggested that these cuts should be even more extreme.

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Feeder series F2 runs only one 45-minute practice session at each event, a format that Russell has suggested would be 'enough' for F1 teams

"I think, just practice to dial in the car, to test things for the future (we need a practice session)," said the Mercedes driver.

"We obviously have no testing at all. I think one session is good enough for all of us to do the various things we need to try and to help develop."

Practice allows development

F1 teams are not permitted to complete in-season testing away from a race weekend and with limited wind tunnel and CFD time, the practice sessions are the only true method of determining whether an upgrade has worked or not.

Conceding that practice sessions cannot be done away with entirely, Russell added: "This is still the pinnacle of the sport and you don't want to be just left with the car that you created at the start of the year with no opportunity to try out new things.

"And that is sort of the beauty, sometimes; you've got this 60-minute session, you can try new things, develop, improve further.

"Whereas if you're going straight into a session that is points-worthy or there is a reward, you're less likely to trial new things."