The Formula 1 drivers support the removal of Free Practice sessions

This Thursday, the traditional press conference of the drivers took place before the Australian Grand Prix. On this occasion, some drivers reacted to the statements made by the Formula 1 boss, who wants to eliminate the free practice sessions that he considers unattractive for the audience.

Some drivers consider the practice sessions to be too numerous and see no problem with having only one. George Russell doesn’t understand why Formula 1 drivers should train more than drivers in other categories: “I don’t think it’s fair that Formula 1 has three times more training than you have in F3 and F2 categories. They should be the ones who train more, also because they have fewer races, they don’t have the opportunity to test as often,” the Briton declares. The Mercedes driver sees no problem in having more entertainment on Fridays: “I really enjoy sprint races and having action on a Friday, I think, is vital for all of us and also for the entertainment factor,” Russell explains.

Pierre Gasly also supports the reduction of the number of test sessions: « Certainly, three is not necessary from a driving standpoint. It’s always nice, you can work on the details of the car and really try to find the balance of the car for the weekend, but in general, I think one, at most two, is more than enough for us », highlights the Alpine driver who wishes to constantly work for a better spectacle on the track: « I think it’s good to always question what we’re doing and look at how we can improve the format and the entire weekend format in general ».

Do as the lower categories

Newcomers in F1 this season, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant see no inconvenience in the reduction of sessions, as in the lower categories. “I think that in all the junior series, we have been used to only having one free practice session, so I think we could have fewer,” says the Dutch driver.

The American echoes the same sentiment: “I think three is a lot, especially coming from F2 where you have to take risks much earlier than I currently have to,” says Sargeant, before adding that as a rookie, it doesn’t bother him to have two or three, but in the future, he doesn’t think three will be necessary.