The Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix takes place this weekend, and several teams will field rookie drivers in their cars tomorrow during the first free practice session. The regulations stipulate that each team must do so in at least two Grand Prix events throughout the year.
AlphaTauri has already fielded Nyck de Vries in Bahrain – at the time he was considered a rookie despite going into a full-time season. They also had Liam Lawson between the Dutch and Qatar GPs, but since he was on the same side of the garage as de Vries, the team now has to replace Yuki Tsunoda. And in Mexico, they will have Isack Hadjar in FP1 instead of the Japanese driver. The Frenchman, currently competing in Formula 2, will also drive the Red Bull RB19 in the Abu Dhabi FP1.
On the other hand, Alpine will have Jack Doohan in the Mexico FP1 – as will be the case later in Yas Marina. As for Haas, they will debut Oliver Bearman in a GP program, with the British driver also participating in the Mexico and Abu Dhabi FP1 sessions.
As for Mercedes, Frederik Vesti will be driving in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez FP1. The Danish driver, like Bearman and Hadjar, is an absolute rookie in official programs of the top category.
Rookie drivers in the Mexico City Grand Prix FP1:
BWT Alpine F1 Team: Jack Doohan
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team: Frederik Vesti
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team: Oliver Bearman
Scuderia AlphaTauri: Isack Hadjar
