Jenson Button has come out in support of Pirelli’s proposal to give an additional set of tyres to any team which runs a rookie driver during the first free practice session.
The tyre supplier has put the idea forward – which will be voted on during the Bahrain GP weekend – to supply one additional set for use only during FP1 and only by a rookie driver, to encourage teams to run young drivers to allow them to gain experience and provide fans at the circuit with more action.
The McLaren driver believes it’s a good idea, although he doesn’t expect the top teams to take advantage.
“I don’t think you’ll see many of the big teams having a third driver drive the car on Friday,” he said on Thursday in Bahrain.
“I think it’s a good idea to have extra sets for young drivers, yes. It’s very difficult for a young driver to have mileage in a Formula One car. They need to bring a lot of money, it seems, to have the opportunity.
“But now that they have extra tyres it could actually be useful for middle-of-the-grid teams and lower to have a third driver for more mileage, more information. There are quite a few test drivers that will sit around and watch Friday, Saturday, Sunday every other weekend and they don’t get to drive the car.
“So I think it’s good for them and I think for the future of the sport it’s important that youngsters are actually getting the chance to drive an F1 car and experience a Grand Prix weekend properly rather than just watching what happens.”
Discussion about this post