Webber concerned about inexperienced drivers

Jaguar star Mark Webber is concerned about the number of relatively inexperienced drivers that could be on track in Friday practices at race weekends in 2004. With the latest batch of regulation changes, Friday testing has been scrapped and the bottom six teams in the championship can run a third car in Friday practices instead. However, with the new rules, that driver must not have competed in more than six Grands Prix in the previous two years.

"Friday is a crucial lead-up to the race weekend and there will be up to 10 additional drivers out on the track," said Webber, who was appointed to the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) this year, according to Motorsport News. "Some of the teams will look upon it as a chance to boost revenue."

"We could possibly see some very inexperienced drivers out there on a one-off basis. There's the real possibility of someone having their first run in a Grand Prix car on a Friday at a Grand Prix."

"That's not the place for your first run in one of these cars. The experienced drivers can generally deal with one less-experienced driver at a time, but if two get together it could be a big drama."

Several teams are trying out young drivers in winter testing, including the likes of Christian Klien, Nico Rosberg, Nelson Piquet Junior and Heikki Kovalainen. Whether any of them will make it to the 2004 F1 season in some capacity is yet to be seen.

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