Horner: Third-car idea interesting, but it won't happen

Christian Horner sees merit in Toto Wolff's proposal for F1 to switch to three-car teams to help struggling young drivers, but the Red Bull team boss also believes the idea is impractical.

A scarcity of race seats in F1 is hindering the efforts of several aspiring young chargers and current racers who are facing an uncertain future in the sport.

With potentially nowhere to go, high-profile talents such as Esteban Ocon and Stoffel Vandoorne could find themselves on the sidelines in 2019, while those racing in the junior ranks may see their progress suddenly halted.

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes the problem could be addressed by teams running a third car exclusively devoted to a young driver with no more than two years of racing experience under his belt.

"I have a simple solution," said Wolff. "Give us a third car. Make it mandatory to put a young driver, with maximum two years [of F1 experience], in that car.

"The costs wouldn’t be huge. The grid would be packed and we would have fantastic shows of new kids on the block coming up and fighting hard with the Valtteris and Lewises of this world and surprising us."

While interesting, Horner doesn't see the concept as practical, especially for the sport's lower budget midfield outfits.

"It’s an interesting one. But the practicalities of running three-car teams – there are things like pit stops – it’s a very complicated thing to do," the Red Bull boss told Motorsport.com.

"Interesting in concept, but once you get into the practicalities of it, it’s very, very complex.

"I can’t see the midfield being particularly happy with it."

McLaren’s Zak Brown also finds Wolff's idea intriguing, but like Horner, he doubts its feasibility.

"I like the idea of third cars, but how do you manage that?" he said.

"I think there’s room on the grid, but not for everyone to have one. Maybe you have them at certain races, but it’s got to be equal and fair."

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