Aston Martin hints at young driver academy in quest for F1 title

Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has hinted at the potential for the team to set up its own driver academy in its quest to become F1 world champions.

Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Alpine, Williams and Alfa Romeo [Sauber] all develop young drivers with the aim of helping them progress through the junior ranks into F1.

For example, George Russell, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris will all aim to compete for the 2022 championship at the top of their respective career ladders with their respective teams.

Asked if Aston Martin had thought about developing a young driver programme, Szafnauer replied: "That's a good question.

"There's a lot to do here to grow into a championship-winning team, and a lot of the bigger teams have those programmes underneath them.

"We haven't really given it much thought but I think in the future we should look at that as part of our entire capability.

"You've got to start early. "I'm sure the competition for the best drivers, the best karters will be high given everyone else has young driver programmes in place already.

"So the option is to start young, hire them early, either that or make it so attractive to them when they're ready to come into Formula 1 that they come knocking on your door anyway.

"So that's the two routes and so far we haven't entertained having one but I think we should consider it for the future.

"I don't know what's best right now."

F1 teams will be obliged to run young drivers in a given amount of FP1 sessions in 2022 to boost the chances for junior category drivers to taste the sport and generate experience with the elite set of teams.

On whether this would come into any decision over an academy, Szafnauer added: "Yeah, for next year, if that's where we go with it, I'm sure we'll find some appropriate drivers."

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