The frenetic pace of modern Formula 1 takes some getting used to, according to rookies Kimi Antonelli and Franco Colapinto.<\/p>\n
Antonelli is in his maiden season of F1 with Mercedes, while Colapinto races for Alpine off the back of a handful of outings with Williams last season.<\/p>\n
Still much to learn after F2<\/p>\n
Both Antonelli and Colapinto graduated to the world championship from Formula 2.<\/p>\n
The preferred feeder series, F2 is the final step on the widely accepted pathway to F1. That begins with Formula 4 before typically taking in Formula Regional, Formula 3, and F2.<\/p>\n
The latter two competitions race alongside Formula 1 at selected events, though their campaigns are far shorter.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s F2 championship contains just 14 rounds, most of which are centred in Europe with a handful in the Middle East. The season-opening Australian event stands as an anomaly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the rhythm of this first half of the season has been quite high,\u201d observed Antonelli, who arrived in F1 amid a hailstorm of headlines proclaiming him the sport\u2019s next superstar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intensity definitely has been quite high as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also requires some\u2026 especially after the first triple header, I had to adjust the way I was managing energy during those three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s demonstrated strong promise, and recorded a podium finish in Canada, it\u2019s been an up-and-down season for the young Italian. Part of that is down to a tricky Mercedes, but an element is also the simple fact that he\u2019s a rookie.<\/p>\n
Antonelli\u2019s plight comes despite a healthy testing programme during 2024, where he was able to bank miles in F1 machinery and perform Friday practice sessions for Mercedes.<\/p>\n
Colapinto\u2019s experience ahead of his F1 debut was more restricted.<\/p>\n
Catapulted into the Williams drive in place of Logan Sargeant mid-season, the Argentine driver impressed initially before finding the going rather more difficult.<\/p>\n
Thrust into the thick of competition again this season in place of Jack Doohan at Alpine, he\u2019s again struggled to recapture the form of his early races and now faces a continued barrage of questions regarding his future.<\/p>\n
\u201cFormula 1 is, we all know, a tough sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all want to be here. There are only 20 places and it\u2019s always going to be very tricky. It\u2019s a lot of effort, sacrifices in the past for all the drivers to get to Formula 1, and only 20 drivers get to be here. And there\u2019s 1000s that want to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge, as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso sees it, is that young drivers enter F1 having grown accustomed to winning. Alonso arrived in F1 as a teenager, with his more than 20-year career making him the most experienced driver in world championship history.<\/p>\n
He reasoned that through the junior categories, a young driver earns a reputation based on their results. But once in Formula 1, those are far more difficult to come by. And that can take some adjustment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you get to Formula 1, it\u2019s because in your past, you had opportunities to win in karting or in the junior formulas,\u201d Alonso explained. \u201cThen you get to Formula 1 and there is only one guy winning, normally for a period of five or six years, because they are dominating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the only thing that you have to manage, and have to control that frustration; you need to still deliver 100 per cent knowing that you will not win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incessant pace of the F1 schedule, coupled with media and sponsorship obligations, can prove draining \u2013 even on experienced drivers.<\/p>\n
While there are some media commitments at F2 level, it is significantly reduced and far less ravenous than it becomes in F1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely got better over the years at conserving my energy in pre-season \u2013 at knowing what to focus on and what to let go,\u201d Daniel Ricciardo wrote in a column for The Telegraph in early 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re young the temptation is maybe to think \u2018more is more\u2019. But a lot of the time \u2018less is more\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to become more efficient with your feedback, your physical conditioning, your media and sponsorship commitments, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those are lessons that can\u2019t be learned in the junior categories, leaving young drivers underdone to an extent ahead of their F1 debuts.<\/p>\n
There is an engineering gap, too. A spec category, Formula 2 offers less freedom for drivers and engineers to fettle their cars. Such are the restrictions that Liam Lawson, who spent a season racing in Japan\u2019s Super Formula in 2023 following two years in F2, suggested the Japanese competition offered a more comparable experience.<\/p>\n
More on F1 rookies<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49 F1 records: Who are the youngest drivers ever to race in Formula 1?<\/a><\/p>\n