No fewer than five of the ten Formula 1 teams will put a rookie behind the wheel during the first free practice in Mexico to comply with the regulations, which means that we will see a number of surprising faces on the track this weekend.
In Formula 1, teams are obliged to have a junior driver take part in free practice twice a season, in order to give young talent the opportunity to gain experience with the material of the premier class. Both regular drivers from each team must remain on the sidelines once. However, in 2025 this will be increased to twice per driver, which means that the formations will have to put a rookie behind the wheel a total of four times during free practice.
Mandatory rookies behind the wheel
It is nothing new that this rule is largely complied with in the closing stages of the season. Most cars are fully developed at that point and so it is less annoying for the teams and regular drivers to have to skip training. This weekend in Mexico, no fewer than five of the ten teams will put a rookie behind the wheel. This means that we will see five new faces, but also five drivers will not be in action on Friday morning.
Which rookies will be in action during the first free practice in Mexico?
Mercedes: Kimi Antonelli in Lewis Hamilton’s car
Ferrari: Oliver Bearman in Charles Leclerc’s car
McLaren: Pato O’ward – not yet known in which car
Aston Martin: Felipe Drugovich in the car of Fernando Alonso
Kick Clean: Robert Shwartzman in de auto van Zhou Guanyu
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