F1 Drivers Express Opinions on Necessity of Three Practice Sessions on F1 Weekends – 2023 Australian GP

Following recent comments by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali about the necessity of free practice sessions during a Formula 1 weekend, some of the drivers have shared their thoughts on the matter.

The former Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal believes that while free practice is interesting for engineers and drivers, ultimately, in sport, you need to fight for something. He stated : “Every time we will be on the track – with the respect of the race on Sunday, that has to be always the most important part of it – there should be something to fight for in terms of points, in terms of awards. That’s my opinion.”

In thursday’s 2023 Australian GP Press Conference, five drivers were asked by Sky Sports F1 lead commentator David Croft whether three practices sessions are still required.

GPDA president George Russell agrees that three sessions is not mandatory. “I don’t think it’s right that Formula 1 has three times the amount of practice that you have in the F3 and F2 categories,” he said.

Pierre Gasly echoed Russell’s comments, adding : “I think one, two maximum, is more than enough for us.”

Nyck De Vries of Alpha Tauri F1 shared his opinion that all junior series have only one free practice session, and he thinks that F1 “could do with less.”

Nico Hulkenberg added : “Thinking back to what George said about the junior series, I quite enjoyed it at the time, having only 30 minutes, like in F2 and then getting thrown into qualifying.”

Logan Sargeant also thinks three sessions are not necessary. “Yeah, I think three is definitely a lot,” he said. “Especially coming from F2 where you just have to take risks a lot sooner than I currently have to. So as a rookie, I don’t mind having two or three but going forward, I don’t think three is necessary.”

It remains to be seen whether any changes will be made to the number of practice sessions during a Formula 1 weekend, but a change could be witnessed in the future as drivers are keen for the weekend format to be modified.