Bottas: Young drivers need more mileage in Formula 1 machinery
Williams reserve driver Valtteri Bottas believes that young drivers do not get enough opportunities to drive Formula 1 cars before graduating to the top level of the sport

Bottas, who has taken part in 12 first free practice sessions in place of Bruno Senna so far this season, said that even with Friday driving, F1 hopefuls needed more opportunities to sell themselves to teams and to gain vital experience.
And the Finn reckons F1 needs to change more to accommodate young drivers coming through.
"I think so," he said. "That's my opinion, because it is obviously really, really difficult nowadays for young drivers to come up and we don't need to go so much further back, only a few years ago, there was a lot of testing and younger drivers could get much more mileage.
"Then the teams could really see which drivers were good. It's a shame nowadays that it is like this, and now it is the same for everyone who is at my age."
"Maybe one example would be to introduce more young driver tests."
F1 has already conducted two young driver tests this year, at Magny Cours and Silverstone.
In spite of the lack of running, Bottas, who has been linked with Senna's race seat for 2013, says he is ready to step up if he is given the opportunity.
Asked by AUTOSPORT if he'd had enough testing to make the step, Bottas said: "Well it's the most you can get really so it has to be enough and in the end you just have to have your first race at some point. And then you see where you are.
"But if you asked me would I be ready to race; definitely. I feel I want to have my first race soon.
"I also feel this second half of the season... because this season I have not been driving as much because I am not racing anywhere else... the second half has been a bit more difficult because I am just spending such a little time in the car in the end.
"So definitely I feel it is time to get more laps in."
Bottas added that he would consider racing in another category next season if he failed to secure a race seat in F1.
"Yeah, I would think I would have to," said the former GP3 Series champion. "Because two seasons driving as little as now I think would be too much.
"GP2 is a good option, but the only thing with GP2 is that then you are not allowed to drive on the Fridays with F1... so, but I hope we don't need to look at that. Definitely the priority is to the race seat for Formula 1."

F1 engine supplier Cosworth puts itself up for sale
Susie Wolff remembers Maria de Villota in first Formula 1 test

Latest news
Castroneves: “Too early” to think about potential replacement by Blomqvist
Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves says it’s too soon to consider Meyer Shank Racing might want to swap him to the IMSA squad and bring Tom Blomqvist over to IndyCar.
Why some DTM teams take out crash insurance but others gamble
The 2022 DTM season featured several major pile-ups and accidents, costing teams several hundred thousands in repair costs. While some had insured cars against such damage, others weren’t so well prepared…
Ricciardo: Australian GP buzz will tell me a lot about F1 comeback
Red Bull third driver Daniel Ricciardo says attending his home grand prix in Melbourne will likely tell him whether he wants to make a full-time comeback to Formula 1 or not.
Kirkwood admits he overdrove as an IndyCar rookie
Kyle Kirkwood admits he was overdriving at AJ Foyt Racing in 2022 and is expecting to rebuild his reputation at Andretti Autosport.
The pioneering F1 car that preceded Lotus’s terminal decline
In the hands of Ayrton Senna the actively suspended 99T would be the last F1 race-winning Lotus but, as STUART CODLING reveals, it was a complicated machine that caused more problems than it solved
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.