New F1 rules in 2022 included one aimed at giving younger drivers more testing chances. Here's who benefitted most from the changes, and how teams spent their allocation of young driver sessions ⬇️
New Zealander Liam Lawson had three practice sessions for two different teams at Red Bull and AlphaTauri, Robert Shwartzman , Jack Doohan and Fittipaldi each had two practice sessions for their respective teams.
Broken down by series, the picture is as follows: six of the drivers came from Formula 2, with the two McLaren testers coming from the IndyCar series. Formula E provided one candidate with de Vries. The distribution of the two practice stints was geared towards the end of the season for most teams. There were Friday drivers at just one of the first 11 grands prix: the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Williams and Red Bull used their first opportunity, and Kubica was also in action for Alfa Romeo.
Therefore, five Friday drivers were used in Austin and Mexico before the season finale in Abu Dhabi featured eight drivers who did not have a regular cockpit in the past season.