Ever since 2022, each team is obligated to give a rookie driver at least one session in each of their cars during a free practice session throughout the season. They can put any driver in, regardless of where they’re from. There’s only two rules that apply: the driver has to be in possession of a Free Practice License, and they can’t have completed more than two races in Formula 1. Below there is a list of all the drivers who have or will partake in a practice session in 2024.
Red Bull
Driver(s): Isack Hadjar
Race(s): Silverstone
Red Bull has put Isack Hadjar in the car of Sergio Perez for the first free practice in Silverstone. The French F2 driver has mounted a fairly strong title challenge in 2024 and would be a logical candidate for a second outing in an FP1 session this year. Red Bull, just like sister team Racing Bulls, can’t really fall back on their reserve driver Liam Lawson because he already drove in more than two races last year. Therefore Hadjar is the most likely candidate for the second FP1 session, although Super Formula driver and 2023 F2 title candidate Ayumu Iwasa is also in the picture. Outside contender is reigning Formula E champion Jake Dennis. Dennis serves as a development driver for Red Bull and also drove in one of the FP1 sessions in 2023.
Ferrari
Driver(s):
Race(s):
Ferrari is in a bit of an interesting situation. The surprise debut of Oliver Bearman in Saudi Arabia doesn’t actually count: the driver has to substitute in one of the Friday practice sessions, and Bearman only took part in the sessions on Saturday and Sunday. It would of course make sense to give him the two mandatory sessions as well, but given that Haas already claimed him for a whopping six sessions and his Formula 2 duties might conflict with any more sessions for Ferrari, it could be tricky to actually put him in a Ferrari for 2024.
For the other options, you would usually look to the reserve driver. But Ferrari’s reserve driver is Antonio Giovinazzi and he doesn’t count because of his three seasons in F1. That leaves Ferrari with two other decent options: Robert Shwartzmann, who has been Ferrari’s reserve driver for several years and took part in the FP1 sessions in the past few years, and Antonio Fuoco, who this year won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ferrari.
Mercedes
Driver(s): Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Race(s): Monza
Mercedes’ regular reserve driver Mick Schumacher doesn’t qualify for this rule since he already drove in F1 for two years. That doesn’t leave Mercedes without options though. Fred Vesti was last year’s runner up in Formula 2 and is the development driver for Mercedes this year. A much bigger contender for the two sessions though is the current golden child of the Mercedes Junior Team: Andrea Kimi Antonelli. His first FP1 outing at Monza wasn't off to a flying start, as he crashed the car just ten minutes in. That didn't stop Mercedes from announcing him as a full-time driver for 2025 though. It's highly likely that Kimi Antonelli will take care of the other FP1 session too.
Mercedes development driver Fred Vesti seems to be unfortunate enough to not get an FP1 outing.
McLaren
Driver(s):
Race(s):
McLaren has not announced any FP1 drivers yet, though they have some very good candidates available to them. IndyCar driver and McLaren F1 reserve driver Pato O’Ward seems to be the best candidate, as he also drove an FP1 session for McLaren in 2023. Reigning WEC champion Ryo Hirakawa is also part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, as is current F2 title challenger and reigning Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto. Because McLaren also has teams in IndyCar and Formula E, they could also aks any of their drivers in those competitions to step in for an FP1 session.
Aston Martin
Driver(s):
Race(s):
Aston Martin has not yet announced their FP1 drivers for this year, though it seems highly likely that it will go to Felipe Drugovich. The Brazilian has been a loyal back-up for the team for a while now. He won the Formula 2 title back in 2022 and has since then been a full-time reserve driver for Aston Martin, though he did recently take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And while it seems unlikely that Drugovich will get a permanent raceseat in Aston Martin any time soon, he’ll most likely be their go-to driver for the FP1 session. If for whatever reason the choice doesn’t fall on Drugo, then it will most likely go to Formula 2 driver Jak Crawford, though the American has failed to really impress in the series this year.
Alpine
Driver(s): Jack Doohan
Race(s): Canada, Silverstone
Alpine put their reserve driver Jack Doohan in the car of Esteban Ocon during FP1 in Canada. With Ocon leaving next year, Doohan will take over his seat full-time in 2025. It therefore didn't come as a surprise when Alpine announced that Doohan would also take over Gasly's car for the first free practice at Silverstone. With those two sessions out of the way, Alpine has fulfilled their required minimum of two sessions. However, given that they plan on putting Doohan in the car full-time next year, they can of course still opt to give him a few more FP1 sessions later in the season.
For more on Alpine's historic downfall, read our three-part series here on where it all went wrong.
Williams
Driver(s): Franco Colapinto
Race(s): Silverstone
Formula 2 driver Franco Colapinto took place in the Williams of Logan Sargeant at the British Grand Prix. The Argentine driver experienced a bit of a rocky start to his maiden F2 season, but after a sprint victory and two podiums he has managed to establish himself solidly in the top ten. You would think that, now that Colapinto is Williams's replacement for Sargeant for the rest of the season, he'd take care of the other mandatory FP1 session too, but you'd be wrong.
Here's the thing: the rules around that state that both cars have to be relinquished for an FP1 session. Since Colapinto did his first training in Sargeant's car, and is now also driving around in Sargeant's car, none of it counts for the two mandatory sessions. That means Albon has to leave his car for a rookie as well some time. That will most likely be Zak O'Sullivan, the other Williams Academy driver in Formula 2 this year.
Racing Bulls
Driver(s): Ayumu Iwasa
Race(s): Japan
Racing Bulls put Red Bull Junior Driver and hometown hero Ayumu Iwasa in the car for the first practice session in Japan. Iwasa currently drives in the Japanese Super Formula, one of the most highly rated competitions in the world.
Regular reserve driver Liam Lawson doesn’t qualify for this rule because of his five race stint last year as the replacement of Daniel Ricciardo. That opens the door for Iwasa to drive another session for Racing Bulls, although he has some competition from Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman is a strong title contender in Formula 2 this year and much more importantly: he has the support of Helmut Marko, who seems to push him as the next big thing coming out of the Red Bull Junior Academy.
Getting behind the wheel for FP1 in front of his home crowd 🙌 @ayumuiwasa_cars will drive the VCARB 01 during the first practice session in Japan 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/DmCOinQVgY
— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) March 26, 2024
Haas
Driver(s): Oliver Bearman
Race(s): Imola, Spain, Silverstone, Hungary
Haas already got all of their mandatory sessions out of the way. Ferrari Junior Driver Oliver Bearman took over the car of Kevin Magnussen in Imola and then followed that up with Nico Hulkenberg's car in Spain. That was already enough for the mandatory two sessions this season, but Haas has chosen to go a little further than that. In total, Bearman will drive six FP1 sessions for Haas this year in anticipation of his full-time drive with the American team in 2025. There is also the fact that Kevin Magnussen is balancing on the edge of a race ban for the rest of the season, so Bearman might have to replace him at some point this year. It makes sense therefore that Haas will want Bearman as much in that car as possible to prepare him for that.
Sauber
Driver(s): Robert Shwartzman
Race(s): Zandvoort
The most logical candidate for the Sauber FP1 session seemed to be Theo Pourchaire, reigning F2 champion and longtime member of the Sauber Academy. However, Pourchaire’s stock has gone down a bit recently after a slightly uneventful championship run in 2023, a terrible start in Super Formula this year which saw him switching to IndyCar instead where his results have been okay at best. Sauber could have instead chosen to go with Zane Maloney, a current Formula 2 driver who managed to launch a strong title bid in the first half of the season.
It was therefore a massive surprise when they did neither of those things, and instead put Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman in the car in Zandvoort. It might have something to do with Mattia Binotto taking over at Sauber, as Binotto was the one who brought Shwartzman on as reserve driver for Ferrari in the first place. It will be curious to see what this means for the future, considering Sauber still has an unconfirmed seat for next year.