Ferrari Director Dishes Out Major Rookie Plans for 2022 F1 Season

The current Formula 2 season has been a closely contested battle among the best young drivers in the world. A lot of the teams in F1 have drivers from their academies currently competing in Formula 2. That includes Alpine junior drivers, Red Bull junior drivers, Sauber Junior drivers, etc.

The Ferrari Driver Academy has some impressive talent, with the likes of Robert Schwartzman, who is currently third in the drivers’ championship in F2, and even Callum Ilott who has committed to IndyCar racing next year. With the new regulations stating that all teams must run rookie drivers for a specified number of FP1 sessions from 2022, Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekies revealed their plans for 2022.

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Ferrari’s Strategy about their rookie drivers

In the press conference before the Russian GP, Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies was asked about their plans for 2022. He talked about whether Ferrari will rotate the rookies or stick with one for all the rookie-FP1 sessions.

The Ferrari race director made it very clear that they will only run one rookie driver.

“I tend to think that we will run only one driver, Dieter, because two sessions is still very little. We all know that it’s a very tough task to a young driver, to get into a car in FP1, one hour, and to perform. So, I think giving only one shot and not the two shots to whoever is going to probably be… is not the best way around, so I think the short answer to your question is probably going to be one driver only.”

Ferrari appreciates the opportunity that F1 is providing for the young drivers

Laurent also appreciated and welcomed the opportunity given by F1 to the rookies. He commended the rules making it compulsory for all the teams to have a junior driver for FP1 sessions. “We have been investing in the younger generation for many different reasons, for a number of years so without so many testing opportunities it’s great to see that as a sport we have now the window to at least give them these FP1 opportunities.”, he explained.

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Ferrari has not confirmed who will run the rookie FP1 laps. Even then, Robert Shwartzman seems to be the favorite man for the job.