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IOL News
01-08-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
F1's fear of the rain is costing the sport its soul
The Belgium GP start behind the safety car last week Sunday was perhaps too conservative. Photo: EPA Image: EPA It's strange to look back at the 1990s and realise that, even here on the tip of Africa, everyone knew who Wayne Gretzky was. The same was true — even more profoundly — of Ayrton Senna. These were names that transcended borders and sports, legends shaped not just by talent, but by the drama and danger that defined their eras. Back then, the World Wide Web was still an undiscovered country, and the world felt both larger and more connected in unexpected ways. Brazilian Senna wasn't just a F1 driver — he was a global icon, forged in a time when the sport still had real teeth. I was still a youngster, and although I couldn't fully comprehend Senna's death, even I understood, as a 10-year-old in 1994, that the world had lost a once-in-a-generation talent. In the aftermath, F1 was forced into a period of serious self-reflection — one that still echoes today. The sport has become far safer, thanks to rule changes that prioritise both driver and spectator welfare. Trackside technology has also come a long way. Chassis that absorb impact, cockpits that cocoon the driver, HANS devices, improved barriers, and safety-focused circuit designs have all contributed to a more secure racing environment. The introduction of the Halo alone has already saved lives. Still, tragedies happen. The deaths of Jules Bianchi in 2015, Anthoine Hubert in 2019, and Dilano van 't Hoff in 2023 are sobering reminders that Formula 1 — and its feeder series — remain inherently dangerous. Nonetheless, the recent aversion to racing in wet conditions suggests the sport's caution is tipping into conservatism. Today, F1 still sells the illusion of speed and danger, but all too often pulls back when weather — that most elemental of variables — threatens the spectacle. In doing so, the sport risks sanitising the very edge that once made it so captivating. The most vivid recent memory of wet-weather brilliance was Pierre Gasly's breakthrough at Monza in 2020. I still remember him staring almost in disbelief at his winner's trophy, post-race and post-podium — as if the magnitude of what he had just achieved hadn't quite sunk in. He had survived the chaos that only a slippery track can conjure to claim an unforgettable victory. The opposite is also true. At the 2023 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, the chequered flag beckoned for Lando Norris. But a flash storm, combined with a string of poor decisions, saw the win slip from his grasp. His reward was the cruel nickname 'No Wins Norris' — a painful reminder of how quickly fortunes can change in the wet. Rain has always been the great equaliser — a crucible for nerve and instinct. Senna's legendary charge at Donington Park in 1993 – the Lap of the Gods – remains one of the most sublime laps in F1 history. Lewis Hamilton's wet-weather heroics — particularly at Interlagos in 2011 — further prove that racing in the rain, while risky, is often the making of champions. So, it was with a snort of exasperation that one watched last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix delayed by more than an hour due to rain. Max Verstappen was among those unimpressed. He argued the conditions were manageable and the delay overly cautious. 'We barely did any wet laps in the end,' he said. 'Which in general, I think is a shame.' He added that starting behind the safety car would have allowed the track to improve naturally — as it has countless times before. Fans watch F1 to see the best drivers in the world battle not just their rivals and machines, but the track and the weather — to dance on the knife-edge between control and catastrophe at 300km/h. To completely sanitise the sport by eliminating the unpredictable drama of wet racing — and replace it with clinical, clockwork consistency — is to strip away something essential. F1 doesn't need more caution. It needs to remember what made it unforgettable in the first place. Will we ever see the like of Senna at Donington in '93 again? Right now — like Gretzky, like the fearless F1 of old — it feels consigned to the past.
New York Times
06-03-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
A Formula One generation like no other? Why there are so many young drivers on the grid this season
Perched on the end of a white couch in Bahrain last week before a room full of journalists, Carlos Sainz could not help but feel his age. Sainz turned 30 last September, putting him in the peak years of his career. His performances for Ferrari last year were testimony to that, and his new team Williams sees him as a key part of its bid to get back to the front of the F1 pack. His future in the sport is very much still bright. Advertisement And yet, to his left, sat four young drivers all born this century who, should their careers go to plan, are likely to be racing in F1 long after Sainz, now the fourth-oldest driver on the grid, has hung up his helmet. The quartet comprising Ollie Bearman (19), Kimi Antonelli (18), Gabriel Bortoleto (20) and Isack Hadjar (20) form part of an astonishing six full-season rookie slate this year. Absent from the news conference were Liam Lawson (23), who has 11 races already to his name, and Jack Doohan (22), who debuted for Alpine at the season finale in Abu Dhabi last year. Together they form the largest complement of full-season rookies in F1 since 2013 (though only three will be debutants in the season opener in Australia next weekend), signalling a major change for the grid. It also caused a dramatic drop in the average age of this season's drivers, from 29 years and 5 months at last year's opening race in Bahrain to 27 years and three months if all 20 line up as planned in Melbourne. It may not get close to breaking the record for the youngest-ever F1 field — the 2017 Russian Grand Prix had an average age of 26 years and nine months — but 2025 does herald a new, more youthful era. But why now? It's rare to get so many rookies in one year, let alone so many who are considered potential future stars, boasting impressive resumes from their junior careers, much of which they spent racing one another. It's uncommon for one driver to make it onto the grid from each year group, let alone a handful at the same time. 'It just shows we have a strong generation,' said Hadjar, who will drive for Racing Bulls this year after stepping up from F2. 'It's good to race guys I know already.' No matter how talented the driver, timing is vital to making it onto the grid. Bortoleto, who will race with Sauber, is the first F2 champion to immediately step up to F1 for the following year since Mick Schumacher did so in 2021. The 2022 and 2023 champions, Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire, are yet to make a grand prix appearance and their chances may well have passed. If the opportunities are not there, it's hard for even the most talented of youngsters to break onto the grid. Advertisement F1's stagnant driver market between 2023 and 2024 helped create more opportunities for this season. For the first time in F1 history, the 2024 grid started with the same line-ups as the previous year had ended. As a number of drivers came to the end of their contracts in 2024, teams were always going to consider making changes this season. Only two teams, McLaren and Aston Martin, will field the same line-up as they did in 2024. Even a wild driver market sent into a tailspin by Lewis Hamilton's shock switch from Mercedes to McLaren was no guarantee that so many young drivers would get a chance. For each seat taken by one of the full-season rookies, there were plenty of older, more experienced candidates in contention. The bet on youth was still a gamble for teams. Except it was made to look like less of a risk thanks to a couple of outstanding, and unexpected, performances through last year, starting with Bearman's sudden call-up for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. When Sainz was ruled out due to appendicitis that required surgery, Ferrari turned to its then 18-year-old academy driver who was meant to start from pole in the F2 race that weekend. Despite only putting Bearman in the car from final practice onwards, the Briton managed to qualify 11th and finish the race in an admirable seventh place on his debut, winning acclaim across the paddock, and particular praise from Hamilton. 'He did such a phenomenal job,' Hamilton said. 'It just shows that he's really a bright future star.' Bearman would make two further race starts with Haas later in the year, replacing Kevin Magnussen, again equipping himself well by scoring a point in Baku. Chasing that kind of upside also prompted Williams to replace Logan Sargeant with Franco Colapinto, 21, in the last nine races of the season. Colapinto, who had only driven an F1 car once prior to his debut weekend and had been racing in F3 a year earlier, quickly excelled with points in his second race and a series of solid displays, justifying the decision and putting himself on the map. Alpine struck a deal in January for Colapinto to join on loan as its reserve and test driver for this year, with Williams believing it served as the best opportunity to get the Argentine back on the grid in the next two years. Oliver Oakes, Alpine's team principal and the former chief of the Hitech team that races across junior categories, thought Bearman's display in Saudi Arabia and Colapinto's efforts with Williams helped show F1 teams that taking a punt on a young driver can have a significant pay off. 'I think that had quite a big effect for teams,' said Oakes. 'I've always felt F1 was a little bit cautious in bringing rookies in, and there's a lot of talent in F2, F3. Everyone is pretty well prepared now as young drivers. But I think also the maturity that some of those youngsters show when they jump in now is really impressive.' Advertisement Oakes explained that such thinking helped with the decision to give a last-minute test to academy driver Paul Aron the day after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite having zero time to prepare. 'He performed absolutely mega on that Monday,' Oakes said. 'If you've got it, you've got it.' It was also a matter of the right opportunities coming up for each of the six youngsters. Without Hamilton's decision to leave Mercedes, Antonelli would likely have been required to wait a little longer for his chance. Lawson and Hadjar both benefitted from the struggles faced by Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo within the Red Bull setup. The movements of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon helped open up spots for Bearman and Doohan, while Bortoleto's march to the F2 title gave Sauber the confidence that he'd be a better option than either of its incumbents, Zhou Guanyu or Valtteri Bottas. 'It's cool to see young drivers getting into F1 now,' said Bortoleto. 'For some years already, I think there were one or two coming in, but finally (this is) a year that a lot of us managed to get the opportunity. All of us deserved it (after) good results in junior series, good results in testing that we have done.' This sudden influx is unlikely to become a yearly occurrence. Ahead of the regulation change in 2026, most teams sought stability with their driver line-ups, prompting them to sign drivers to multi-year deals. While there is always room for things to change, as recent seasons have proven, a quieter market this year would come as little surprise, such is the cyclical nature of the grid. The next big fall in the average age should occur when Hamilton, 40, and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, 43, opt to call it quits after careers that started in their early twenties, around the same age of this year's rookies. Not since the 2019 intake of Lando Norris, George Russell and Alex Albon has there been such excitement over the new crop of talent entering the sport. Though errors are to be expected, given their inexperience, the rookies know they must impress from the start. Now they must live up to the hype, and prove the grid's new-found faith in youth has been the right call.
