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We’re getting to the business end of the season, and that means some teams need to satisfy the rule of running a ‘rookie’ driver in each of its cars.
A host of those are being ticked off in Mexico this weekend. Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are all taking the opportunity to get fresh blood in their cars, fielding drivers with no more than two F1 race starts.
Who has driven so far, and which teams still need to field a driver this year? Let’s take a look.
Who is running in Mexico?
Felipe Drugovich - Aston Martin
Ollie Bearman - Ferrari
Pato O’Ward - McLaren
Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes
Robert Shwartzman - Sauber
Pato O’Ward will get his first F1 running of the year, with the IndyCar star taking on an expanded reserve F1 role after the Alex Palou saga. It will be O’Ward’s first on-track action at his home race.
Kimi Antonelli gets a shot at redemption after his hero-to-zero debut in Monza. Felipe Drugovich gets another shot behind the wheel of the Aston Martin, his fifth FP1 since 2022.
Both Ollie Bearman and Robert Shwartzman have been in F1 machinery already this year, with Shwartzman completing Sauber's rookie FP1 requirements for the year.
Teams that will still need to run a rookie after Mexico
Aston Martin x1 (Jak Crawford, Abu Dhabi)
Ferrari x1
McLaren x1
Red Bull x1
Williams x1
Aston Martin is the only team of the above to confirm an FP1 driver for one of the remaining races, slotting Jak Crawford in for Abu Dhabi after Drugovich in Mexico.
F2 frontrunner Isack Hadjar has run for Red Bull already this year and is one of its stable of drivers available. McLaren could run O'Ward again or perhaps F2 frontrunner Gabriel Bortoleto, while Williams has a tough situation after promoting its most obvious choice in Franco Colapinto to a race seat, making him ineligible to fulfill the practice driver requirement.
Ferrari has Bearman for Mexico and could use him again, or slot Shwartzman in as he's still a Ferrari junior.
Rookie FP1s in 2024 so far
Alpine
Jack Doohan x2, Montreal and Silverstone
Aston Martin
Felipe Drugovich, Mexico
Haas
Ollie Bearman x2, Imola and Barcelona
Ferrari
Ollie Bearman, Mexico
Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli, Monza and Mexico
McLaren
Pato O’Ward, Mexico
Red Bull
Isack Hadjar, Silverstone
Sauber
Robert Shwartzman x2, Zandvoort and Mexico
Williams
Franco Colapinto, Silverstone
