Where F1's calendar shuffling hurts its new drivers

Sometimes, life needs something new, something different.

In 2020, one of the very few upsides to the hideous impact of the coronavirus pandemic was that, in terms of the schedule at least, Formula 1 had a dose of variety thrown in. Of course this came at a cost, for the championship's business model thrives on tracks and certain countries paying to host races, but it did provide a variance flavour. The Nurburgring, Imola and Istanbul returned, while Mugello, Portimao and the Bahrain 'outer loop' made first-time appearances.

The necessary changes to F1's schedule were painful as 'normality' evaporated, but the variation it provided reinforced its value - which applies across all of sport - as escapism. How excellent it was to wonder about what racing the Mugello's brutal nature would provide when F1 rocked up at the MotoGP paradise.

The same value came in considering the short and simple track used for the Sakhir Grand Prix - a race that turned out so well it surely provides inspiration for tracks to alternate their layouts each year, if they have the capabilities. It's ultimately trivial stuff, but sometimes, when things look particularly bleak, the trivial is just wonderful.

The 2021 F1 calendar is already different to the provisional version, with Australia moved back to November (but still in some peril considering the understandable difficulties around entering the country), China remains absent and Imola has earned another recall. At the time of writing, the UK government is considering enforcing stricter border controls with regards to mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals. A requirement of this sort would inevitably have a knock-on impact for a necessarily nomadic series such as F1 and other international championships.

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F1's flexible approach to its 2020 schedule saved the season. And, as painful as it remains given the depressingly drawn-out global health crisis we're living through, such malleable methods may be needed again in 2021 just to get through again.

So, if we return to the variation provided by new or unfamiliar F1 venues, we might consider the impact these have for the competitors.

Drivers regularly speak about the value of 'experience'. The ongoing clamber to gather knowledge and understanding in all F1's aspects provides constant benefits, if understood correctly and subsequent lessons deployed as needed. The cars are faster and far more complex than in the junior formulas, the media spotlight is more intense, the pressure is much greater. And some of the tracks are unfamiliar too.

"It's kind of like I'm a rookie and a half, let's say, because I would have had these experiences in my rookie year! That's probably the one thing I feel [has been] robbed from me" Nicholas Latifi

In a 'normal' F1 season (basically consider the originally intended 2020 and 2021 calendars), the championship would be visiting Albert Park, Shanghai, Montreal, Singapore, Suzuka, Austin, Mexico City and Interlagos - venues that are not on the regular single-seater beat, from Formula 4 up to F2 (although the W Series will head to the US and Mexico this year, if there are not further calendar alterations, which, almost inevitably, there will be).

If F1 is forced away from these flyaway venues again in 2021, this will have a knock-on effect to the three rookies on the grid this year, as they will not be able to learn unfamiliar, challenging and famous layouts in the real world.

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Last year, that effect was felt solely by Nicholas Latifi - but he at least started out with the same amount of experience, zero, as the rest of the grid for the three all-new events. The flipside of this situation is that when life does return to normal - and it is wonderfully helpful to picture that day and hold onto such thoughts - these drivers will have additional racing experience to call upon, which should aid them getting up to speed at the returning venues listed above.

But any lingering hold created by the need to fully experience an unfamiliar track may still result in a subpar race performance, which would be judged harsher with the shroud of the 'rookie' moniker removed. In 2021, Latifi will lose that designation - although for the reasons outlined above, he sees things slightly differently.

"Technically," he tells Autosport, "if we've got a bunch of these tracks that I still haven't been to [coming back to the calendar], it's kind of like I'm a rookie and a half, let's say, because I would have had these experiences in my rookie year! That's probably the one thing I feel it's been kind of a bit robbed from me. But you've just got to deal with [and] play with the cards you're dealt."

Latifi was thrown additional curveballs by the pandemic impacting his maiden F1 season. For a start, there was the lockdown-enforced long delay to the season commencing, which meant a four-month gap between testing and the Austria opener. Crucial momentum was lost and Latifi had to work back up to the primed state he had obtained in Melbourne before the world suddenly shut down.

There were typical rookie errors early on and Latifi never looked getting Williams into the points during the chaotic races where it could benefit, as team-mate George Russell did before making mistakes at key moments. But Williams was nevertheless pleased with his progress over the campaign, particularly with his race management - the team also feeling his quiet, pleasant personality sometimes disguises the ruthless racing driver within.

But as he heads into his second year as an F1 driver, there is one major area where Latifi must improve and he knows it: qualifying. Such is the unjust nature of current F1, drivers at the back of the pack must shine elsewhere, with little chance of points finishes providing progress proof.

Latifi was rather undone against the clock in 2020. He did well to get out of Q2 in Hungary, but could not repeat that achievement, which Russell managed nine times. He was very close on several occasions, but mistakes at key monuments on his final Q1 runs, such as at the Sakhir GP, were costly.

"First and foremost," Latifi says of his rookie year, "I've obviously learned a lot, a huge amount. And I think that was kind of the most important thing. Especially the fact that I'm still driving for the team next year, and just knowing that I have a kind of bank of experience to be able to build on.

"I think it's highlighted some areas that I really still need to improve, that I must improve on next year, as a driver. Specifically, getting together my Saturdays more consistently. At the same time, it highlighted some strengths as well, some stuff that I was hoping we were gonna be quite strong [with while] making the jump to F1. And they still are, such as the race managements and tyre degradation, stuff like that.

"It was a great year all around. Obviously, [I'm] very excited to get started in 2021 [to] build on everything from 2020. [But] there have just been too many qualifyings where I felt I finished a lap and I'm like, 'That was either just not a good lap or there was just one mistake that ruined the chance of getting to Q2'.

"There's been occasions where for I could've been into Q2 or been very close to George, [on] some occasions maybe even beating George. But obviously you've got to put it together and that's what matters" Nicholas Latifi

"There was maybe one or two qualifings where I felt everything came a bit better together, and I was like, 'You know what, I was relatively pleased with that lap, it might not still be quick, it might not be good enough for Q2, but that's just where we are today'.

"Too many times it was: 'Yeah, it could have been so much better'. Like, I'm not blindly trying to find time, I know how to get the time [and] if I had another go at it I could probably do the time. So just putting it all together from that aspect [is the goal], because I know if I could do that and get the most out of myself, then there's been occasions where for I could've been in Q2 or been very close to George, [on] some occasions maybe even beating George. But obviously you've got to put it together and that's what matters."

But this is the F1 driver learning curve - the path that provides the much-desired experience. Latifi has begun to progress along, clearing hurdles created by the pandemic that perhaps he alone will experience in F1.

The current disruption looks set to continue for a depressingly long while yet. But when COVID-19 is a footnote in humanity's history, F1 must reflect on the additional caveats it created for its prized performers.