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This week, we should have been watching a Formula 1 race with the rarest of distinctions: the usual drivers taken out and replaced with junior or F1-inexperienced drivers.
It was Red Bull boss Christian Horner's idea that caught traction initially - to run a sprint race as part of the post-season Abu Dhabi test with new drivers inserted in the regular cars, giving those juniors a chance to show what they could do in a proper race (and an opportunity they might never have got otherwise).
The idea has been parked at least until next year, but that didn't stop us dreaming about who might be on the grid, and why.
We've done our best to blend fact and speculative fiction - as ultimately we don't know exactly who each team would have chosen - to come up with what a realistic junior sprint grid might have looked like.
McLaren: Ryo Hirakawa, Pato O'Ward
A 30-year-old and a 25-year-old is not exactly the best start to our list of 'junior' drivers.
But both Pato O'Ward and Ryo Hirakawa (driving for Haas in Tuesday's post-season test) have impressed with wins in the World Endurance Championship and IndyCar respectively, and who doesn't want to see crossover stars get an F1 chance?
McLaren's junior Gabriel Bortoleto is off to Sauber and its other prospects are too young. But it at least would have got to benchmark the two senior members of its pool in an F1 race proper. - Jack Benyon
Ferrari: Antonio Fuoco, Arthur Leclerc
Antonio Fuoco isn't even the best sportscar driver in the world, so giving him an F1 outing - even if he has been a tireless and relentless workhorse in the background for Ferrari since his Formula 2 career ended in 2018 - would have been a bit limp.
Arthur Leclerc is the current development ace for Ferrari, so it does make a lot of sense for these drivers to benchmark the car against the sim to help with more development work. But neither of these drivers are likely to get an F1 seat in the future. - JB
Red Bull: Isack Hadjar, Jake Dennis
Liam Lawson wouldn't have been eligible because of his 11 race starts so 2024 F2 runner-up Isack Hadjar should have got the nod. He's already testing with Red Bull in the post-season test and did FP1 in Abu Dhabi last Friday with the team.
Red Bull rates the input of its simulator driver Jake Dennis highly so we can see it giving the 2023 Formula E champion his F1 race 'debut' as a reward for all his work, plus providing some more real-world benchmarking to add to his 2023 Abu Dhabi FP1 run. - Josh Suttill
Mercedes: Kimi Antonelli, Frederik Vesti
Kimi Antonelli is the easiest pick on this list - and Mercedes would probably be hoping, maybe even expecting, to see him emerge as the race winner ahead of his 2025 debut.
There is no other driver in its junior structure ready to be put into an F1 car. Even if there had been, reserve driver Frederik Vesti would've been the no-brainer pick - having driven in FP1s last year and warranted the shot on the strength of his nearly title-winning F2 campaign that year.
Vesti is at least driving the 2024 Mercedes in Abu Dhabi - he stood in for Antonelli in the first half of the post-race test day as Antonelli recovers from the after-effects of the illness that ruled him out of last weekend's F2 finale. - Valentin Khorounzhiy
Aston Martin: Jak Crawford, Felipe Drugovich
Felipe Drugovich, still hanging in there on F1's periphery in desperate hope of getting his grand prix chance, was quicker than Fernando Alonso in FP1 this past weekend.
Run plans, engine modes, targets, fuel levels, whatever - yes, Drugovich is not 'quicker than Alonso', but he's clearly built himself into a capable operator in an F1 car and picking anyone else for an event like this would've been total malpractice.
Aston Martin development driver Jak Crawford - who hasn't done an FP1 yet but has had private F1 tests and is driving at Yas Marina with Drugovich - would be the obvious pick for the other car, especially on the heels of finishing fifth in F2. - VK
Alpine: Jack Doohan, Paul Aron
No reason not to run Jack Doohan - whose Abu Dhabi Grand Prix debut wouldn't have made him ineligible under the proposed rules - in one of the cars.
And new Alpine reserve Paul Aron has had a mega F2 season so would slot easily into the other car (as he has done for the post-season test), although his call-up does also suggest there is no real future here for Alpine's long-serving junior Victor Martins, who would've been a very interesting driver for this kind of event despite his pretty disastrous F2 campaign this year. - VK
Haas: Pietro Fittipaldi, Dino Beganovic
Dino Beganovic hasn't had the best second F3 season, which is usually enough to condemn any F1 hopeful, but a wild fourth place on his F2 qualifying debut (followed by a podium in Abu Dhabi, and now a deal to join Hitech in 2025) points to the potential for a strong future in that series and therefore F1 contention is a possibility.
He's a Ferrari junior, and Haas has none, so it makes sense he would be sent over on loan.
Haas might use the opportunity to get Ollie Bearman in here, but if his three F1 race starts are too many for the rules of the new junior sprint race, it would probably have looked to Pietro Fittipaldi. He's been in Haas machinery already this year, although his career shows he doesn't deserve an F1 seat full-time - making it a bit of a pointless box-ticking exercise. - JB
RB: Ayumu Iwasa, Arvid Lindblad
Honda junior Ayumu Iwasa has already completed two FP1s with RB in 2024 so would have been a logical choice to race for it.
Lindblad hasn't even raced in F2 yet but Red Bull and its team principal Christian Horner rate him highly, so an F1 'debut' can't have been discounted.
He finished fourth in Formula 3 this year but the 17-year-old had some of the most impressive peaks in the field.
He should get his actual F1 weekend debut in 2025 with some free practice outings. - JS
Williams: Luke Browning, Zak O'Sullivan
Zak O'Sullivan was a race winner in F2 this year but ran out of money before the end of the season. However, given he still appears to be a Williams junior, it seems only fair he should get the chance.
Especially as the driver who replaced him, 2023 Macau Grand Prix winner Luke Browning, is also a Williams junior who got an FP1 outing in Abu Dhabi last week - effectively jumping ahead of last year's F3 runner-up O'Sullivan in the pecking order, which feels a bit harsh. - JB
Sauber: Gabriel Bortoleto, Robert Shwartzman
The 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto would be an easy pick for one of the seats but who would partner him is less clear.
Long-time Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire has been snubbed for opportunities so many times we wouldn't be surprised if 2025 IndyCar driver Robert Shwartzman got the nod.
Shwartzman completed free practice outings for Sauber at Zandvoort and Mexico City so a third outing, in Abu Dhabi's rookie race, would have made sense. - JS
OUR FULL GRID
McLaren: Ryo Hirakawa, Pato O'Ward
Ferrari: Antonio Fuoco, Arthur Leclerc
Red Bull: Isack Hadjar, Jake Dennis
Mercedes: Kimi Antonelli, Frederik Vesti
Aston Martin: Jak Crawford, Felipe Drugovich
Alpine: Jack Doohan, Paul Aron
Haas: Pietro Fittipaldi, Dino Beganovic
RB: Ayumu Iwasa, Arvid Lindblad
Williams: Luke Browning, Zak O'Sullivan
Sauber: Gabriel Bortoleto, Robert Shwartzman
Have our team got the grid right? The Race Members' Club can let us know in the comments below.
