The FIA's regulation modifications prior to the commencement of Formula 1's new era in 2022 included one geared at providing younger drivers with more opportunities to test.
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The new rule required teams to provide a driver who had not previously competed in more than two Grands Prix with two free practise sessions each season. Ten “rookies” who had never competed in a race get the chance to run in practise as teams completed this condition. Another example was Pietro Fittipaldi, who ran in two races for Haas in 2020 but was still covered by the provision. The same was true for Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou, who competed in the first race as a “rookie” runner despite being a licenced race driver. He could have theoretically avoided being forced to miss any sessions, but during the course of the campaign, he actually caved in twice.
Alfa Romeo allowed Robert Kubica to take the wheel a total of four times, but these were all voluntary attempts on his part rather than mandated by the rules. When Haas selected Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo was the only other team to deploy a non-rookie Friday driver. Nyck de Vries, one of the rookies, has the most diverse experience. The Dutchman, who will drive regularly for AlphaTauri starting in 2023, was permitted to participate in four practises. His involvement with three separate teams—Mercedes (in France and Mexico), Aston Martin (in Italy), and Williams—is what makes him most noteworthy (Spain). He also drove for future employer AlphaTauri in the post-season Abu Dhabi test, which resulted in him driving four different F1 cars in 2022.
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Logan Sargeant played four times as well, but only for Williams. It gave the American so many opportunities because it wanted to make sure he had enough superlicence points in case there was a late-season slump in the F2 standings, but in the end, he performed well enough. Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari), Jack Doohan (Alpine), Pietro Fittipaldi (Haas), and Liam Lawson (of New Zealand) each had two practise sessions for their respective teams while Robert Shwartzman, Jack Doohan, and Liam Lawson all had three practise sessions for Red Bull and AlphaTauri. Each of the following drivers received one outing: Juri Vips (Red Bull), Alex Palou (McLaren), Patricio O’Ward (McLaren), Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin), and Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo).
