Why third cars are being touted as F1's salvation

Thanks to Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff, still trying to find somewhere to place junior drivers Esteban Ocon and George Russell in 2019, the oft-mooted notion of three-car teams has reappeared on the agenda in recent weeks.

It remains one possible solution for the big problem F1 currently faces - a shortage of seats, and hence a lack of opportunities for young drivers. Russell himself has neatly summed up the situation in which he now finds himself.

"I feel like F1 is currently lacking at least two teams," the Formula 2 championship leader noted. "We only have 20 cars on the grid, and as a young driver trying to break into that 20 is extremely difficult. I think the idea of a third car, or something along those lines, is a very good idea.

"It gives the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull the chance to throw their young drivers in without any major issues."

At a senior level, though, aside from Wolff's lone voice, the third-car idea hasn't gained much traction. It barely got a mention at last week's Strategy Group meeting, despite Wolff's obvious enthusiasm when speaking with the media.

Other teams have made clear their dissatisfaction with Mercedes' increasing political power, so this wasn't really the time for Wolff to float such an idea in a formal setting.

"I'm not the flavour of the month in F1 at the moment," he admitted in Singapore. "So the ideas I bring up somehow end up in the bin. Better I'm not saying anything, then someone else brings it up as the next great idea..."

It would be wrong to suggest that third cars are not part of the DNA of F1. For the first few decades of the world championship there were no limitations, and the big works teams routinely entered three or more cars, although by the early seventies that strategy was less common.

It was only really in the Ecclestone era that two cars became the norm, but even in the eighties extra entries would occasionally pop up. Jonathan Palmer drove a third Williams FW08C at the 1983 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch - a classic case of a junior driver landing the chance to make his debut.

The last team to run a third car was Renault, fielding Philippe Streiff in Portugal in 1984, and Francois Hesnault in Germany the following year. The latter example was specifically to evaluate a live onboard TV camera rather than give mileage to a driver, since Hesnault had already demonstrated he was a journeyman.

As late as 1990 some backmarker teams fielded just one entry, but by the following year two cars had become mandatory, and ever since the commercial arrangements and regulations have assumed that is the norm.

"It would be nice to have a few more cars, but I think it's very unlikely. If you've got three dominant teams with three cars, you're fighting over 10th. I can understand why everyone would baulk at that" Charlie Whiting

Nevertheless the third car idea surfaces every few years, usually when a big team finds itself with three potential drivers and a difficult decision to make. That's exactly the situation Wolff is currently in, with Ocon and Russell (and until recently Pascal Wehrlein) on his books, and Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in the works seats.

Mercedes still has the possibility of placing a driver at Williams, but there are several qualified candidates with bigger budgets than any deal Wolff can offer. That's why he's dusted down the third car concept.

"I like the idea because the more cars we have in the field, and the more opportunity we give to young exciting drivers to fight in a competitive car against experienced drivers, it would create great stories," he says. "And maybe be an easier access for talent.

"Personally, I would just really enjoy it, have a third Mercedes and put Pascal in there or George or Esteban, and just see what they are able to do. But I'm not the one taking the decisions here about the regulations."

One of the men who is deeply involved in writing the rules is FIA race director Charlie Whiting. He would be happy to see more cars on the grid - but knows that the midfield teams don't want third entries to happen, for obvious reasons.

"My personal view is that it would be nice to have a few more cars," says Whiting. "But honestly, I think it's very unlikely.

"It's fairly simple. The argument against it is if you've got a dominant team with three cars, then everyone's fighting over fourth and not a podium place. If you've got three dominant teams with three cars, then you're fighting over 10th. I can understand why everyone would baulk at that."

Wolff understands that line of argument, some of the noisiest exponents of which have been his own customer teams, Williams and Force India.

"We've had quite some push-back for the idea, for reasons that I respect," he says. "Teams saying that would mean there are three Mercedes and three Ferraris and three Red Bulls, and I respect that. If I were involved in a smaller team, that would be an argument."

But what if those reservations could be overcome, with a push from the commercial rights holder's side? Wolff insists it makes economic sense - in other words, a third works car would cost substantially less than fielding a full two-car junior team in the way that Red Bull currently operates.

"I think that a third car would be very easy to finance," says Wolff. "Even putting another brand on the car and giving it a completely different livery and a different story. It's easier to market a junior driver that drives in a Mercedes and a Ferrari - that is exciting."

Whiting too can see the sense in that: "If you have a more evenly competitive field, it's a good economic model as far as one can see.

"This is why GP3 teams have always had three cars. Next year in [FIA International] F3 the plan is 10 teams with three cars each, because it's a good business model, because it enables the third car price to be lower. I would think that would work in F1 as well."

The economic question aside, there are all sorts of political hurdles to overcome. Wolff naturally suggests that third cars should be saved for junior drivers, but how would you define them? He's suggested it be those with fewer than two seasons of experience, which would allow in Russell, but not Ocon. Should third cars score driver points only, or no points at all? And how would they impact prize money?

"Colin Chapman gave me a ride in a top team. I won my first race in South Africa with Ferrari in a third car. My career was launched because I had a competitive car under me" Mario Andretti

"We've looked at various scenarios," he says. "You could even let them participate in the sessions and qualifying, but let them do their own race, if teams feel that meddling in the championship is not right, or don't make them score constructor points, just driver points.

"So there would be many fantastic and exciting ways to integrate them on the grid, but you have to respect that if some teams are not up for it, then it's difficult to implement it."

When he read of Wolff's suggestion, Mario Andretti contacted Autosport with his own take. The significance of the 1978 world champion's voice is that he made his own F1 debut with Lotus in 1968 as a third entry, and then contested 12 grands prix in a third Ferrari in 1971-72, even logging a first win at Kyalami.

More recently he's seen up close the PR impact generated by Fernando Alonso's guest appearance in son Michael's IndyCar team at the Indianapolis 500.

"We're always looking for an angle to try to promote F1 in a different way and try to reach out to fans," he told me. "First of all, that is how I got my break.

"Colin Chapman gave me a ride in a top team in a competitive car, and that's the reason I was on pole, in a third car. I won my first race in South Africa with Ferrari as third car. The point I'm making is it launched my career because I had a competitive car under me.

"The big thing in the States is to reach out to another fanbase. Can you imagine the promotion if, say, Josef Newgarden as IndyCar champion was invited by Mercedes or Ferrari or Red Bull as a third car for the US GP? It would add another 40,000 people probably.

"You can hide behind things like the engine situation, but you can work it. The guest car cannot earn points, for instance. Wouldn't that be an interesting way to increase the popularity? Bring in a Chinese driver, a Japanese driver, any different country that you go to, if you have a star driver that the team is willing to take on just for the race.

"At least keep the door open for the possibility. Ferrari inviting the IndyCar champion would be huge. I realise that times change, but can you imagine the promotion value for the sport? I think it's immeasurable."

It all sounds a little idealistic, and Andretti is well aware that there would be opposition as teams protect their position.

"Competition is competition. You're looking at the big picture. If all of a sudden you've got to think about favouring one team, that's not what makes you grow. You've got to use every bullet in the gun to try to advance the cause. If the thing becomes more popular, then the smaller teams have a better chance to get bigger sponsors, too."

It's certainly an interesting angle, and if the focus was on guest stars - think of how Sebastien Loeb and Valentino Rossi missed out on F1 chances in the past - then you'd like to think that rivals would see that bigger picture, especially if Liberty gets behind the concept.

Inevitably there are logistical complications. When would any guest get any testing in? And how would you stop the teams involved from gaining a clear benefit from any extra mileage a third car runs?

The third-car idea triggers many more questions. How many extra crew members would a team be allowed to bring to run one? And how would you stop those guys from quietly pitching in on the two main cars at a time when track personnel limits are strictly controlled?

"The rules are based around two-car teams, so a lot would have to be looked at," says Whiting. "They're allowed 60 operational personnel. How many more would they need? There's a big difference between what they'd need and what they'd say they need. We'd have to decide what's the right figure. It wouldn't be 30, it might be 10."

"It's an interesting one," says Red Bull's Christian Horner. "But the practicalities of running three-car teams - there's things like pitstops - it's a very complicated thing to do. Interesting on concept, but once you get into the practicalities of it, it's very complex."

The real issue, as Russell noted, is that there are not enough teams, and nobody fulfilling the traditional role of back-of-the-grid staple with seats for hire at a reasonable price. Don't forget that Fernando Alonso was placed by Renault at Minardi, and Daniel Ricciardo by Red Bull at HRT. It's no coincidence, too, that in its final season Manor fielded Mercedes juniors Ocon and Wehrlein.

The big question is how new teams can be persuaded to come in. Force India's recent sale shows there are people out there with money, but there's a huge difference between buying the established fourth-best team and a funding a start-up. There's no sign of any new contenders on the horizon.

Liberty is hoping to change that, and F1's bosses have repeatedly said that changes to the commercial structure and attempts to rein in spending are intended to appeal to new entrants.

"Getting new teams, as we know, is tantamount to impossible at the moment," says Whiting. "But that's something that we're hoping will improve, if everything works out as planned with the revenue distribution and the cost cap.

"The car will hopefully be regulated where the non-performance parts are standard or prescribed, and the performance-differentiating parts are team only, where you can't get them from everybody else."

The likelihood is that any new entrant will adapt the Haas/Ferrari model, although even that will not be available in its current form post-2021, because as Whiting notes some performance parts that Haas currently buys will have to be developed in-house, making the task of being instantly competitive that much harder.

Will the changes really attract new teams? The rules and commercial package will have to be finalised before anyone can do their due diligence and make a commitment, and even at this stage it seems unlikely that they could be ready by 2021. In the meantime, we just have to hope that the 10 existing entrants make it that far.