Nine rookies took part in Formula 1's first practice session at the Mexican Grand Prix, with every team bar Sauber fielding a rookie.
Each Formula 1 team needs to satisfy the rule of running a 'rookie' driver twice in each of its cars during a season.
Rookies are defined as any driver with no more than one grand prix start to their name. So Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) and Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) all ticked off the rookie requirements for their cars in Australia and China at the start of the 2025 F1 season.
As Ollie Bearman (Haas) already started three grands prix last year, he didn't count, while Alpine rookie Jack Doohan could have counted for Australia because he made his F1 debut in Abu Dhabi last year, but Alpine already planned to use rookies for four sessions.
In Abu Dhabi, eight of the 10 teams will field rookies, with Aston Martin choosing to field two.
As well as its 2026 third driver Jak Crawford, Aston Martin will give another F2 driver, Cian Shields, his grand prix weekend debut in Abu Dhabi.
He'll be joined by the likes of IndyCar race winner Pato O'Ward and Charles Leclerc's brother Arthur.
2025 FP1 rookie runs
McLaren (4)
Alex Dunne - Austria, Italy
Pato O'Ward - Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Ferrari (4)
Dino Beganovic - Bahrain, Austria
Antonio Fuoco - Mexico
Arthur Leclerc - Abu Dhabi
Red Bull (4)
Ayumu Iwasa - Bahrain
Arvid Lindblad - Britain, Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Mercedes (4)
Kimi Antonelli - Australia, China
Frederick Vesti - Bahrain, Mexico
Aston Martin (5)
Felipe Drugovich - Bahrain, Hungary
Jak Crawford - Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Cian Shields - Abu Dhabi
Alpine (4)
Jack Doohan - Australia (not counted)
Paul Aron - Italy, Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Ryo Hirakawa - Japan
Haas (4)
Ryo Hirakawa - Bahrain, Spain, Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Racing Bulls (4)
Isack Hadjar - Australia, China
Ayumu Iwasa - Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Williams (4)
Luke Browning - Bahrain, Mexico, Abu Dhabi
Victor Martins - Spain
Sauber (4)
Gabriel Bortoleto - Australia, China
Paul Aron - Britain and Hungary
