During the first free practice in Abu Dhabi, we will again see a lot of different names in action. Many teams use the last GP weekend of the season to comply with the 'rookie rule.' Check below which new names will feature during FP1 at the Yas Marina Circuit. AlphaTauri has already complied with the rule requiring each team to field a driver with less than two races of
F1 experience during two free practice sessions in a season.
Nyck de Vries and Liam Lawson, as well as Isack Hadjar, all drove a first free practice session once as rookies at the time.
For
Williams and
McLaren, they have not previously put a driver other than their regular driver in the 2023 car during a FP1, but with
Logan Sargeant and
Oscar Piastri starting the season as rookies, they only need to put one other driver in the car to comply with
FIA regulations. Respectively Zak O'Sullivan and Jack Doohan will get the chance.
Red Bull Racing is the only team yet to field two drivers. Isack Hadjar and Jake Dennis will sit in the RB19s of
Max Verstappen and
Sergio Perez.
Rookies who will be in action in FP1 Abu Dhabi
(In brackets the driver relinquishing his car)
Red Bull Racing:
- Isack Hadjar (Max Verstappen)
- Jake Dennis (Sergio Pérez)
Mercedes:
- Frederik Vesti(
Lewis Hamilton)
Ferrari:
- Robert Shwartzman(
Charles Leclerc)
McLaren:
- Pato O'Ward(
Lando Norris)
Aston Martin:
- Felipe Drugovich (Fernando Alonso)
Alpine:
- Jack Doohan (?)
Williams:
- Zak O'Sullivan (?)
AlphaTauri
- All fulfilled
Alfa Romeo
- Theo Pourchaire(
Guanyu Zhou)