Why F1 is largely a closed shop to new talent

The contrast of seeing 10 relatively unfamiliar driver names contesting first practice in the final 2023 race of Abu Dhabi versus an unchanged list of racers for the new season almost sums up the challenges for ambitious youngsters to step into Formula 1.

Test and reserve drivers are a crucial part of any team, and the current FIA rules insist that each car must be driven by a rookie for at least one practice session in a season. The opportunity to connect with the latest F1 machinery seems like a useful step for the newbies, yet insiders are aware that a single free practice session isn’t always meaningful.

Former F1 racer Mark Blundell became a test driver for Williams in 1989 at a time when F1 testing was a huge commitment and, as his career developed, he grabbed opportunities to go racing. Nowadays he is running Mark Blundell Partners, part of which is to help drivers take steps to professional careers and then keep them employed. He has experienced insight at all levels.

“Some of this FP1 stuff isn’t a relevant point in question when you’re looking towards a new driver because it doesn’t equate,” says Mark. “Some of those guys will never be in F1. I did over 10,000km of testing for Williams in a year and as such they understood me, knew what they were getting and also the outside world could see what I was up to.”

That level of testing was phased out by the FIA to cut costs to teams, whereas the number of races has rocketed. Nowadays young drivers often have to prove themselves on simulators but that is never going to be identical to a car on a specific day.

“Some of the biggest issues for younger drivers these days is that the business of F1 is so big that a team taking a risk on a new driver is quite high,” says Mark. “Hence you see guys in their 40s still under contract and teams that have kept drivers for several years. They just can’t take the risk of having someone new and it going wrong; on two or three occasions you see some guys come in and they’re spat out of the system again because it hasn’t quite worked. And some of it fundamentally is that the teams don’t get to understand the drivers’ qualities because they no longer really have a test programme and a test facility in an authentic environment.”

Photo by: Ercole Colombo

Blundell notched up thousands of F1 test laps before he made his grand prix debut in the 1991 US GP

The reduction in entries since that period in the 1990s has also made life more difficult for the aspiring stars.

“Opportunity is less with 20 cars on the grid. When I got into F1 in 1991 you had to prequalify because there were extra small teams around and it gave you an opportunity. Now the eye of the needle has really slimmed down. When you’ve got guys who have six, seven, eight-year contracts with one team, it blocks pathways.”

Blundell's current business has a number of professional drivers on the list; none of them is currently in F1 but he feels that making a full career as a driver is a challenge in any category.

"There’s one in a million that will make the grade. If you don’t hit home in every formula and cap it off with a big gold trophy, the chances of getting there on a steady escalator are slim" Mark Blundell

“For me it isn’t easy, period. If you’re going to analyse it there’s probably fewer than 500 drivers in the world in all categories of motorsport who are actually full professionals. F1, NASCAR, World Rally, Australian Supercars, IndyCar; when you start to analyse professional racing drivers, there aren’t many on that global scale. Whatever the formula is, it’s going to be tough. If a young driver coming through doesn’t show exceptional talent and doesn’t have an exceptional amount of funding to start with, then it’s a really difficult process.”

Occasionally, however, that exceptional talent is recognised – as shown by Oscar Piastri’s brilliant debut season having snatched the opportunity with McLaren.

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“That sums it up,” says Mark. “There’s one in a million that will make the grade. If you don’t hit home in every formula and cap it off with a big gold trophy, the chances of getting there on a steady escalator are slim. F1 can see what’s available when there’s enough talent there yet contracts can still take time. Even [Oscar] Piastri had to sit out of racing for a while.”

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Despite his stunning junior series record, even Piastri had to bide his time to reach F1

Meanwhile the wider McLaren Racing business has also worked well with Jake Hughes, a driver of Blundell's group who was supported in developing the relationship to be able to take on a first full season in Formula E and receive a continued contract.

“We sold into McLaren with ‘give the kid a chance’ and ‘take a risk’. Thankfully they did and I think they’re very happy for it.”

But Blundell is all too aware that the more complicated aspects of F1 can lead to drivers vanishing quickly, just like Formula E champion Nyck de Vries.

“It’s just trying to understand that it’s one thing driving,” he says. “It’s another thing taking the pressures of it and it’s another thing to be able to deliver week in, week out. F1 will definitely extract the maximum; if you can’t cope, you’re not going to last long…”

Photo by: Elliot Patching / Motorsport Images

Gone are the days of youngsters getting extensive track time to prepare for F1