F1 sprint race idea could lead to 'enormous damage' for teams

Former F1 star Pedro de la Rosa has warned something must be done to find more opportunities for young drivers to get time in F1 machinery as talks continue over increasing the number of sprint races on the calendar.

The 54-year-old previously raced in F1 between 1999 and 2012, driving for Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT, with his career best result in the pinnacle of motorsport a second-place finish at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard is also an ambassador for the currently struggling Aston Martin F1 team, and during an appearance in the commentary box at Bahrain pre-season testing this week, questioned how fair the sport's current 'young driver' label is.

De la Rosa noted there is currently little opportunity for drivers such as Stoffel Vandoorne, who doesn't qualify as a young driver having competed in more than two grand prix in his career, but questioned an idea raised by David Croft on how young drivers could get more time on track across a race weekend.

Vandoorne remains as Aston Martin's simulator, test and reserve driver for 2026, but due to the increased focus on getting F1 'rookies' in the car during practice sessions across the season, it is highly unlikely he will make it out on track this year.

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Could F1 hopefuls debut in sprint races?

In Bahrain this week, the FIA confirmed that discussions had taken place over the potential of increasing the number of sprint races on the F1 calendar up to 12 in order to meet the growing commercial demand.

Croft and his testing co-commentator Anthony Davidson then discussed that perhaps a sprint race could become more of a team effort in future, with the main driver lineup sitting out to make way for young drivers to take part in the shorter race instead.

But despite his concern over the lack of opportunities for F1 hopefuls, De la Rosa did not seem keen on the Sky F1 duo's chaotic sprint weekend suggestion.

Speaking during Thursday’s morning session at Bahrain on Sky F1, De la Rosa instead suggested teams could hang around in the paddock after a grand prix in order to give young drivers an opportunity to get some vital test runs in.

"I’m sure there’s a lot of ways of giving young drivers extra mileage, you could actually test on a Monday after a grand prix," he said.

"You have to think about what’s cost-effective really because even if it’s in the cost cap or not, you have to think about that.

"Sprint races for youngsters, personally I think the amount of potential damage they could cause to the race weekend would be enormous because you can have a crash and then lose one car and then you’re compromising the whole weekend.

Despite suggesting up and coming racers carry too much risk with them, De la Rosa maintained that a solution must be found to increase opportunities for them, concluding: "The bottom line is we agree young drivers have to get more mileage."

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