F1's stars of tomorrow: every rookie to drive in FP1 in 2024

Five rookies will take part in the first free practice session at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, as multiple teams target the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez as the perfect testing ground for F1 potential.

Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Sauber will all field young hopefuls in place of their regular drivers. Felipe Drugovich, Ollie Bearman, Kimi Antonelli and Robert Shwartzman will be on track for the FP1 session, along with Mexican IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward, who’ll have a wave of home support.

All five drivers have driven in FP1 sessions before, but the pressure to impress is reduced for Bearman and Antonelli, who already have confirmed seats on the F1 grid for next season. Everyone else will be hoping to turn heads.

The Mexico GP is regularly chosen by teams run rookie drivers. Due to the high altitude teams typically use the first practice session to gather aerodynamic data — a job that full-time racers are generally happy to delegate. The circuit’s fast yet wide layout also provides room for error for rookies trying to establish themselves.

Every team is duty bound to give at least one rookie — defined as a driver that has raced in two or fewer grands prix — a free practice run in both of their cars over the course of the season.

After the running in Mexico City, Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Williams will still have to fulfil their obligation at one of the four remaining rounds.

Find out everything you need to know about the F1 rookies who have driven in FP1 sessions so far this season:

Which rookies will run in FP1 in Mexico City? 

Felipe Drugovich replaces Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin

Oliver Bearman replaces Charles Leclerc at Ferrari 

Pato O’Ward replaces Lando Norris at McLaren

Kimi Antonelli replaces Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes 

Robert Shwartzman replaces Zhou Guanyu at Sauber

All F1 rookies to run Mexico City

Felipe Drugovich 

Aston Martin 

A dominant performance in 2022 saw Felipe Drugovich claim the F2 crown with a race to spare — causing many to claim that the Brazilian was ‘F1 ready’ heading into 2023. He subsequently joined Aston Martin as its first official test and reserve driver, and has already racked up a considerable amount of simulator hours as well as an FP1 debut at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.

After being impressively on pace at Monza — posting similar times to Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg while finishing 18th at the chequered flag  — Drugovich stepped into the AMR23 once again in Abu Dhabi and impressed even further: posting the second-quickest time of the session — just two-tenths behind George Russell‘s Mercedes.

But unfortunately for the Brazilian, a full-time race seat at the Silverstone outfit for 2025 and beyond looks unlikely.

Despite the performance gap between them, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are set to take up the only two F1 seats at the Silverstone marque for the foreseeable future — the former expected to stay with the team until at least the end of 2026, while the latter appears to be untouchable while his father Lawrence Stroll remains as the team’s owner.

Given his obvious talent, Drugovich could be in the running for midfield seats elsewhere, and will aim to impress again in Mexico City, but be may also have to play the long game.

Ollie Bearman 

Ferrari/Haas

Ollie Bearman has quickly become on the brightest future stars of the F1 paddock.

The Briton built his reputation with an impressive F2 campaign in 2023 — in which he claimed four race victories — before making an F1 race weekend debut with Haas in FP1 at the 2023 Mexico City GP.

He stepped in for Kevin Magnussen and impressed vastly: finishing with the fastest time of all the rookie runners. Since then, the 19 year old Ferrari junior has only gone from strength to strength.

In March 2024, he became the youngest-ever driver to race for Ferrari in F1 as he stepped in to replace the sidelined Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian GP. His ‘super-sub drive’ to a seventh place finish, was enough to convince most he was F1 ready and in July, Bearman was signed to a full-time F1 race seat with Haas for 2025.

Another opportunity to earn his F1 stripes came again in Azerbaijan, as Kevin Magnussen received a one-race ban for exceeding the penalty points limit.. Bearman subbed in and impressed again, securing tenth ahead of temporary team-mate Nico Hülkenberg.

The Briton will complete his fifth FP1 outing of 2024 this weekend in Mexico City, stepping into Charles Leclerc‘s Ferrari.

Kimi Antonelli 

Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli is among the newest up-and-comers on this list, having only made made the jump to F2 from F4 at the beginning of 2024. But his stardom has since exploded.

The young Italian has been a long-term member of the Mercedes junior academy, having impressed Toto Wolff during his karting days.

Four consecutive F4 championships from 2022-2023 prompted a promotion into an F2 seat with Prema for 2024, where despite the team’s struggles, Antonelli has still been able to impress: scoring a sprint race win at Silverstone and a feature race win in Hungary.

At Monza he made his FP1 debut with the Brackley outfit, stepping into replace George Russell. He was almost instantly on the pace, and set the quickest lap of all during the opening laps — but then he crashed.

Nevertheless, the costly mistake did little to deter Antonelli’s astronomical rise through the motor sport ranks, as in August he was announced as a Mercedes F1 driver for 2025 — replacing the departing Lewis Hamilton.

In a preview of what’s to come, Antonelli will take the seven-time world champion’s seat for FP1 in Mexico City this weekend.

Pato O’Ward

McLaren

Another impressive IndyCar campaign in 2024 has kept Pato O’Ward in the hunt for an F1 seat in the years to come — the Mexican having finished fifth in the championship standings with three impressive wins and multiple podium finishes.

As part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, O’Ward has already had numerous opportunities to prove himself in F1 machinery: first making his FP1 debut at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — where he finished ahead of F2 stars Jack Doohan and Felipe Drugovich — and most recently completing a testing programme in Barcelona alongside team principal Zak Brown.

Although both McLaren F1 seats are set to remain occupied until at least 2026, O’Ward will have a chance to impress in front a home crowd in Mexico City this weekend — as he takes over FP1 duties from Lando Norris.

Robert Shwartzman

Sauber

After leaving the F2 paddock in 2021, Robert Shwartzman is a name that has arguably been lost among others. Two sprint wins coupled with other impressive performances during his final junior campaign saw the Russian-Israeli driver challenge Oscar Piastri for the drivers’ crown, before then taking on a test driver role for Ferrari in 2022.

Despite earning a reputation as the “most lethal overtaker on the road to F1 across the past two years”, the buzz around Shwartzman has since faded but an eye-catching performance in Mexico City could put his F1 future back on track.

Taking over Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber, Shwartzman will be keen to best the outcome of his last FP1 outing, which saw him finish 2.3 seconds off the pace at Zandvoort.

Other F1 rookies to race in FP1 sessions so far in 2024

Jack Doohan 

Alpine 

The name may well be familiar, not just because Jack Doohan is the son of the MotoGP legend Mick, but because he is already an established member of the F1 paddock — especially when compared to the rest of the drivers on this list.

Not only has the Aussie already completed numerous testing miles with Alpine on filming days, but he has also competed in six FP1 sessions and two Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Tests since 2022.

His most recent free practice appearances in 2024 were slightly underwhelming, as Doohan completed just three laps in Montreal and lapped over seven-tenths slower than his team-mate at Silverstone.

Nevertheless, impressive F2 results in 2023 — including race wins in Hungary and Belgium — and countless simulator hours as Alpine’s official reserve driver in 2024 has been enough to convince the Enstone outfit to give the Aussie a full-time F1 seat for 2025, next to Pierre Gasly.

Isack Hadjar

Red Bull/RB

Isack Hadjar has been highlighted on multiple occassions as a potential candidate for future Red Bull seats, having turned heads with an impressive F2 campaign in 2024.

The Frenchman has won four races already and is just 4.5 points short of championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto in the drivers’ standings.

Hadjar has also made several FP1 appearances for Red Bull and RB over the last two seasons, but has finished no higher than 17th during sessions in Mexico City (2023), Abu Dhabi (2023) and Great Britain (2024).

Nevertheless, he remains a threat to Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and even Sergio Perez.

Franco Colapinto

Williams

Since making his FP1 debut for Williams at the 2024 British Grand Prix, Franco Colapinto’s racing world has been turned upside down.

The Argentine lapped within four tenths of established team-mate Alex Albon and impressed the pit wall with his bold driving style, but with little space on the grid, his likelihood of an F1 promotion looked bleak.

But then, just four races later at the Italian GP, he was announced as the struggling Logan Sargeant‘s full-time replacement at the Grove outfit for the remainder of the 2024 season — and he was quick to impress again.

Colapinto qualified 18th but climbed through the field to finish 12th, just 14 seconds behind Albon. His form only got hotter at the following races: finishing eighth in Azerbiajan, eleventh in Singapore and tenth at COTA.

Williams cannot retain the 21 year old themselves, having already committed to Carlos Sainz for 2025 onwards, but Colapinto could end up in a race seat at Sauber or RB for 2025 — should his high-level performances continue.