i can understand the reasoning behind Horner's (and Abiteboul's) position on this, but on the other hand its a real shame that several seats are being denied to a talented driver because of their junior program/backing choices.
i suppose it has always been this way and probably this system is necessary, even crucial, to the development of young drivers, but cant shake the feeling that there is something inherently wrong about this system extending into the top level particularly when the issue is compounded by how few (competitive) seats there are in F1 to begin with.
i suppose it can be alleviated with a more formalized B squad approach to organizing the grid but even that has its downsides.
