What is the reason a driver like Esteban Ocon would want to stay in F1 as a reserve driver rather than commit to race elsewhere in a different series? All F1 drivers are very, very good, and presumably would be in demand, so why not compete elsewhere, win some races, be a hero? – Stephen
When it became clear that Ocon was not going to be retained by Haas next year, and that his options for a race seat seemed to have evaporated, the Frenchman was insistent that his F1 career was not over.
Staying involved in the sport as a reserve driver – if he can find a spot – is the best way to keep current in the sport.
It means a driver is available should either of the race drivers at whatever team he can land with be incapacitated.
It keeps him familiar with current F1 machinery through simulator sessions, and perhaps driving recent cars.
And it simply keeps his face around and in people’s minds.
Go and race elsewhere, whether it’s Indycar, Formula E or endurance racing, for example, and it’s much easer to be forgotten, or for people to assume your time has come and gone.
Why hasn’t Liam Lawson been confirmed for 2027 despite his brilliant driving this year? – Pete
The decision as to which two of the three drivers in contention to drive for Racing Bulls next year is in the hands of the Red Bull shareholders Chalerm Yoovidhya and Mark Mateschitz, and Red Bull’s ultimate F1 boss Oliver Mintzlaff.
Lawson is in contention along with his current team-mate Arvid Lindblad and F2 front-runner Nikola Tsolov.
The old Red Bull way – under Helmut Marko and Christian Horner – would have been to jettison Lawson now on the basis he has had his chance in the lead team and is unlikely to be considered for another, and put in Tsolov as the next cab off the rank, so to speak.
The counter-argument is that leaves two unproven talents going against each other next year, which would leave Red Bull not knowing what they are looking at.
Better, this argument goes, to keep Lawson and Lindblad together next year for a fuller reading on Lindblad, with Lawson as a known-quantity benchmark, then drop whoever performs least well at the end of 2027 in favour of Tsolov.
In not so many words, Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane made this second argument in Brazil at the weekend.
“Red Bull’s had a very successful young driver programme,” he said, “and I don’t want to be critical of it, but I think if you guys are critical of it, maybe sometimes the drivers haven’t been able to have enough time to settle, or maybe some snap decisions have been made.
“We’re trying to apply a little bit of science, and that takes some time.
“So we are looking at everything and studying, analysing, and time is on our side. We’re not in a rush to do anything, and I’m very confident the right decision will be made.
“I realise it’s frustrating for our drivers. I realise it’s frustrating for everyone else, but we want to get it right, and we will get it right.”
Interlagos consistently produces thrilling races. Should F1 be doing more to preserve racing at ‘classic’ circuits? – Nathan
F1 faces a difficult balancing act with the calendar.
It wants a truly global world championship. It wants exciting racing that engages audiences. It wants a good mix of circuit types for variation and interest. And it wants to make money.
When it comes to ‘classic’ race tracks, that’s not always an easy equation to solve.
The main reason is that the classic tracks are often in countries that are not able or willing to pay the big-money fees.
The same model and restrictions do not apply in autocracies that want to use races for national self-promotion, hence they can and do tend to pay bigger fees.
But F1 is well aware of the importance of classic circuits, and it wants to ensure it keeps the best of them.
As a consequence, F1 does make compromises that ensure the likes of Monaco, Silverstone, Spa and Suzuka stay on the calendar, even if not every year any more in the case of Spa.
At the same time, the sport makes a considerable effort to make new tracks as interesting as possible. Some are more successful than others, but that’s always going to be the case.
Take Las Vegas, for example. It is far from the greatest track in terms of driving challenge, and was hardly likely to be given it is made up of streets in an American city, but it makes up for that with spectacle and kudos.
As for forthcoming permanent circuits, former F1 driver Alex Wurz – the designer of the new tracks in Qiddiyah, Saudi Arabia, and Rwanda, which are both due to come on to the calendar in the next few years – has done his level best to ensure they are fulfilling and challenging for drivers and promote good racing.
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