A number of Formula 1 drivers have weighed in on whether the sport really needs three practice sessions every weekend.
The debate was a big talking point heading into the Australian Grand Prix after Stefano Domenicalli suggested that the sport could well cancel practice altogether to make every session matter, similar to the format of MotoGP.
George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant were all questioned about the topic on Thursday, March 30 ahead of the third round of the 2023 season.
“I think no is the answer,” Russell said. “The more practice you do, the more pace you will have and the more comfortable you will be in the car.
“I don’t think it’s right that F1 has three times the practice that you have in F3 and F2. They should be the ones getting more practice.”
“I agree with George,” Gasly added. “Three sessions are not needed from a driving point of view.
“It’s always nice to work on fine details of the car but generally speaking, one or maybe two maximum is more than enough for us.”
Same for everyone
De Vries and Sargeant are two drivers who will be relishing every lap they get behind the wheel of an F1 car being rookies in 2023, but even they uggested they would not want three sessions per weekend once they are accustomed to the sport.
“If you make a change, it will be the same for everybody,” De Vries said. “In all junior series, we’ve all been used to doing just one session so I think we could do with less.”
“As a rookie, I don’t mind having two or three sessions,” Sargeant added. “Going forward, though, I don’t think three is necessary.”
