Russell, Norris back calls to reduce F1 practice time

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali thrust the sanctity of free practice into the limelight in an interview last weekend with SportTV. He said: “I am a supporter of the cancellation of free practice sessions, which are of great use to the engineers but that the public doesn’t like.”

Arguments in favour of slashing the three one-hour sessions include taking away data from engineers and drivers to increase the likelihood of entertaining mistakes.

Mercedes driver Russell reckons experienced F1 drivers did not need the extra laps, so the FIA F2 and F3 support categories should pick up the extra track time.

In response to being asked whether three practice sessions were necessary, Russell said: “I think no is the answer.

“Obviously, the more practice you do, the more up to speed you’ll be, the more comfortable you’ll be with the car.

“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.

“They should be the ones to get more practice, also because they’re doing less races, they don’t get to test that often.”

Russell implied Domenicali might have stretched the idea by wanting to bin practice altogether, but that F1 owner Liberty Media’s attempts to spice up the schedule by adding sprint races – which move qualifying to a Friday in place of FP2 – had broadened his horizons.

He continued: “No practice would be too little.

“I wasn’t in favour of the sprint races initially… but I really enjoy the sprint races and having action on a Friday is vital for all of us and also for the entertainment factor.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris backed the idea to hand more time to FIA F2 and F3 to improve the value for money of the series, plus he liked the idea of reduced running adding to the pressure F1 drivers face.

He said: “For my time in [F2, 2018], when you see the cost of how much it is to do this series versus the amount of laps you get, it’s shocking… it’s really stupid.
“To give them more track time… it’s definitely a good thing for junior drivers to get that from Formula 1.”

“FP1 into qualifying, that nature of it, I do love. It puts me under pressure, puts the engineers under a bit more pressure and we get straight into the action.”

But defending champion Max Verstappen reckoned F1 might be advised to largely leave the current format alone and instead address other areas to boost the spectacle.

The Red Bull driver…