Junior outfit Prema, who won the GP2 title at their first attempt with Pierre Gasly last year, would consider an entry on the Formula 1 grid if the sport agreed to introduce customer cars, according to boss Rene Rosin.
The Italian team competes in a wide variety of lower series including Italian and German F4, European F3 and now F2 becoming an excellent base for top manufacturers to place their young drivers with five Ferrari juniors in their cars across three categories, most notably Antonio Fuoco and F2 runaway championship leader Charles Leclerc.
Recently, a debate has started on the lack of opportunities for these drivers to enter F1 once they have proven capable, this comes after Ferrari stated a desire for Sauber to become the stepping stone for their Academy racers, and Rosin thinks the new F1 bosses should consider making it easier for teams who want to join the grid to offer just that.
“Why not? Formula 1 is a dream for every team; not only for drivers but also for engineers,” he told Motorsport.com when asked if it was an ambition.
“Of course I know that it’s a dream and it would be really difficult to obtain it, there needs to be a lot of changes in the structures of motorsport to do something to arrive at that point.
“It depends on how everything is organised, and in the case of a customer car I think it’s possible to be organised, but of course with the situation as it is today, no – it’s something that needs to be planned, needs to be agreed and needs to be developed, also in terms of regulations.”
Rosin would continue, suggesting the inability of talented young drivers to find a place on the F1 grid was making a mockery of the motorsport ladder and harming the ambitions of those at the very bottom.
“Drivers like [Ferrari third driver] Antonio [Giovinazzi], like Pierre [Gasly], like Charles [Leclerc] should be in Formula 1 because they fully deserve it,” he claimed.
“How Charles is managing everything this year is something really incredible so he really deserves a chance. I think that they have to put him in the [F1] car, otherwise what’s the sense of the junior formulas? What’s the sense of Formula 1 either if we are not able to promote the best drivers to the field?
“Stoffel Vandoorne now is in Formula 1, but also in the beginning [as reigning GP2 champion] he was parked in Super Formula,” Rosin added.
“If these drivers are not able to get into Formula 1, what is the sense in having Formula 2, Formula 3 and Formula 4?
“These kids are all dreaming of F1, and if they’re not able to do that there’s no sense in it.”
