On the occasion of the Japanese F1 Grand Prix which will take place next Sunday we are making an "imaginative" proposal which could be examined by F2, F3 and Formula Academy. The direct question is as follows: can the “Blue Lock” manga save young pilots from the limbo of motorsports?
Readers are warned that this is only, as stated in the preamble, an "imaginative" proposal. So not to be taken seriously. Consider it as a hypothesis, a “what if…?”.
One of the biggest problems in Formula 1 today is the lack of driver turnover between F1 and F2. The F2 regulations state that the winner of the championship cannot compete in the same category again. This gives him few choices: either be lucky enough to be hired by a Formula 1 team that gives him a seat or stay on the bench and only be able to drive in some free practice. Or the third and most difficult way: migrating to another category such as IndyCar or WEC.
F1 today does not allow errors of any kind. Small teams very often rely on experienced drivers rather than a young person given the high percentage of accidents they experience compared to the old guard. Under regime budget cap the problem becomes even more sensitive.
![Oliver Bearman - Scuderia Ferrari](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Oliver-Bearman-Scuderia-Ferrari-1-750x375.webp)
F1: the “blue lock” as a lifeline
In short, what is “Blue Lock”? It is a manga ("Japanese comic") of a sporting, psychological, dystopian genre whose plot is an unbelievable experiment. Especially for those who love football. In Italy it was very successful thanks tosouls (cartoon) arrived on the “Crunchyroll” platform.
The story: The Japanese national soccer team has just been eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup, by Belgium. The Japanese Football Federation hires an enigmatic scientist who calls himself “Ego” who proposes the infamous “Blue Lock Project” which aims to forge the striker who can give the World Cup to Japan.
300 attackers, all of high school age, are selected and locked up in a academy, a pentagonal, hyper-technological structure, called "Blue Lock", with football fields, dormitories and gyms. There are no coaches or referees (replaced by VAR), just “Ego” and the young players.
The first test is to survive "dodgeball". 90 seconds are given, whoever is touched by the ball last, when the timer expires, will be forced to leave the "Blue Lock". Those who are eliminated will no longer be able to play professional football in Japan.
They are just little more than kids who, using a ball, will resort to a sort of "mors tua, vita mea". But as "Ego" says, attackers must be "selfish", they must free themselves from the chains that force them to pass the ball to their teammate because they are afraid of making mistakes. They must find that missing piece of the puzzle that elevates theirs skills, otherwise they will never be true professionals who will bring the World Cup to Japan.
Then we move forward through a 11v11 group stage with one of the attackers positioning himself in goal. Then, as we move forward in the internship with more and more attackers eliminated, we move from a 4v4 to a 3v3, with a smaller football pitch. There will be a holographic image in the goal, the "Blue Lock Man", who, thanks to sensors, is able to save the shots he receives.
From what you can understand, football here goes from a team sport to an individual one. A discipline in which only those who are more selfish and score more goals win. In short, it's not "Holly & Benji".
![Oliver Bearman](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Oliver-Bearman-750x375.webp)
The "blue lock" applied to the preparatory categories of F1
Let's say that F1 considers a similar proposal for young drivers. What could come out of it? In my opinion, the three preparatory categories, F2, F3 and Formula Academy, should be merged into a single class with the aim of bringing the best driver into Formula One, possibly in a specific team that is capable of winning the world championship.
These drivers they should also have a calendar made especially for them and not follow that of F1. Which today, in part, happens. They wouldn't have any teammates. They would race on both permanent and city circuits. Challenging tracks where, for the slightest mistake, you pay a very high price.
We would proceed by stages: fastest lap, management of tire degradation, races under pressure as an entry test. Anyone who doesn't pass the test would be eliminated and would no longer be able to compete at professional levels, as would anyone who doesn't move on to the next "frames".
Only then would the actual championship begin with free practice, sprint race and race. Grand prix in which there would be the possibility of artificially wetting the track, suddenly, without the various contenders being notified in order to see their qualities, in order to elevate them in extreme conditions.
At the end of the championship, the top 5 finishers would have the opportunity to compete against the five top F1 drivers, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris to test their skills against much more experienced and titled professionals.
The first to reach the finish line among those coming from the “Blue Lock” championship will have the opportunity to compete in F1.
![Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Carlos-Sainz-e-Lewis-Hamilton-750x375.webp)
Winning in F2 doesn't make a CV
Today, in Formula 1, the only F2 world champions are the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who won the title in 2017, the young Englishman from Mercedes, George Russell, in 2018, and the Australian from McLaren Oscar Piastri, who won the edition of 2021. As you can see, the standard bearer of the Woking team is the only F2 champion in this decade.
His colleagues such as Mick Schumacher, son of the 7-time world champion Michael, leader in 2020, had a brief interlude with the Haas team with many controversies, between 2021 and 2022, and today he is reserve driver for Mercedes and competes for Alpine in the WEC, in the Hypercar class.
Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian driver, champion in 2022, is today reserve driver and test driver for Aston Martin and has only three hours of free practice under his belt. This year he will compete in Endurance, at the European Le Mans Series, with Vector Sport.
Théo Pourchaire, winner last year, has decided to compete in Japan, in Super Formula, for Team Impul.
Ironically these F2 champions did not have the success hoped for in F1 unlike their colleagues who did not win F2. Lando Norris, drivers English, came second in 2018 and is now on a permanent basis at McLaren.
Nikita Mazepin, Russian driver, who ranked fifth in 2020, entered F1 the following year, in Haas, thanks to the generous sponsors of his oligarch father close to Vladimir Putin. He was ousted before the start of the 2022 championship following the invasion of Ukraine.
The Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, ranked 3rd in 2020 and part of theacademy of Red Bull, debuted in 2021 and today is permanently in the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls satellite team was AlphaTauri.
Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu, third in 2021, races first today with Alfa Romeo-Sauber. Logan Sargeant managed to get the points necessary for the Super License that would have allowed him to race in Formula 1. He finished fourth in 2022 and today competes with Williams.
Conclusions
I don't think that whoever wins F2 should necessarily race in F1 given that the teams are private companies and pay their drivers a lot of money. But whoever wins in the cadet series must have a real chance of being able to compete in the top series and not settle for a few hours of free practice a year.
These kids, with their families and sponsors, already pay a lot to enter the various academies of the franchises and often find their doors barred just because a team prefers a paying driver or a more experienced one. This forces them to migrate to the less conspicuous categories of the motorsports.
This is sportingly degrading. Some drivers from pure talent they deserve a chance that is beyond their spending power. Otherwise drivers like Lewis Hamilton, to name the most illustrious, would not have emerged.
Crediti foto: F1, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, Scuderia Ferrari