Revealed: The junior driver replacement plans for every F1 team

Thomas Maher
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Junior and reserve F1 drivers Oliver Bearman, Isack Hadjar, and Kimi Antonelli, pictured in 2024.

Junior and reserve F1 drivers Oliver Bearman, Isack Hadjar, and Kimi Antonelli, pictured in 2024.

All 10 teams must run a junior driver during two practice sessions in F1 2024. Who has done so, and who is yet to announce their plans?

With six race weekends remaining, several of the teams are yet to conform to the junior driver practice requirement which dictates how inexperienced drivers must be given time behind the wheel of a contemporary F1 car during first practice.

What is the rule regarding junior drivers taking part in F1 practice?

Article 32.4 (c) of the Sporting Regulations decrees that each team must hand over a car on two separate occasions to allow a junior driver to take part in a Friday practice session. Usually, the teams opt to do this during first practice when the track is not at its most representative and, therefore, useful for the usual driver.

“On one (1) occasion during the Championship, for each car entered for the Championship, each Competitor must use a driver who has not participated in more than two (2) Championship races in their career,” states the rule.

“Each Competitor must advise the FIA in writing seven days prior to the start of the relevant Competition with the details of the driver that they will use.”

For F1 2025, the rule will change to double the junior driver requirement – each team will have to replace their usual race drivers for two separate occasions, meaning a total of four outings throughout the year for a junior at each team.

What new names have already driven during FP1 at a Grand Prix in 2024?

Heading into the final five races of the 2024 championship, some of the teams have already taken care of this requirement and, thus, don’t have to run a junior driver again.

There is nothing to stop a team from handing over more practice sessions to a junior if they so feel like it, such as the example of Haas scheduling Oliver Bearman with six (now five) practice sessions this season.

The rule doesn’t force the teams to run the same junior driver for its two mandatory sessions, meaning two junior drivers can be used if desired.

Of the five remaining races, Mexico and Abu Dhabi are the most likely weekends in which the teams can fulfill their duties – Sprint weekends mean the one and only practice session is of utmost importance to the usual drivers.

What are the F1 team’s junior driver plans for the rest of 2024?

Here’s a rundown of each team’s junior driver plans for FP1 sessions in 2024, including the sessions that have already run.

Red Bull:

  1. Isack Hadjar (Sergio Perez’s RB20, British Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (Max Verstappen’s RB20)

Red Bull fielded junior driver Isack Hadjar, a contender for this year’s Formula 2 title as he occupies second place with two rounds to go, at the British Grand Prix.

The French driver took over Sergio Perez’s RB20 for the session, in which he finished 19th.

Hadjar is the leading candidate to take over Max Verstappen’s car for the second appearance, likely for Abu Dhabi, with Helmut Marko already confirming Hadjar’s appearance in the Young Driver Test following that weekend.

Mercedes:

  1. Kimi Antonelli (George Russell’s W15, Italian Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (Lewis Hamilton’s W15, Grand Prix TBC)

 Andrea Kimi Antonelli made the most memorable rookie appearance of this year by taking over George Russell’s car for FP1 in Italy, only to almost immediately crash the W15 at Curva Alboreto.

With the Italian confirmed as a race driver for F1 2025, expect him to be in Lewis Hamilton’s car for FP1 in Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari:

  1. Ollie Bearman (Charles Leclerc’s SF-24, Mexico City Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (Carlos Sainz’s SF-24, Grand Prix TBC)

Amusingly, Ferrari has actually run a rookie driver already this year, with Oliver Bearman appearing in Carlos Sainz’s car in Saudi Arabia.

However, his outing doesn’t actually fulfil the requirement. The reason for this is that the rookie driver requirement only applies to FP1 and FP2.

With Bearman taking over Sainz’s car after Friday’s running, his FP3 appearance isn’t applicable to the rule.

This means the Scuderia still has to field a rookie for two practice sessions over the next six races and have called upon Bearman for the first of these sessions as he takes Charles Leclerc’s car for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The British driver was originally scheduled to drive for Haas, but Ferrari have called him up – this won’t be costly for Haas, who have already completed their mandatory junior driver running.

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McLaren:

  1. Patricio O’Ward (MCL38 TBC, Mexico City Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (MCL38 TBC, Grand Prix TBC)

Patricio O’Ward will be driving one of the McLarens at the Mexico City Grand Prix, in front of his home fans, with the McLaren IndyCar star also appearing in FP1 at the last two Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.

He’s the leading candidate to drive the same session this year at Yas Marina, although McLaren junior Gabriel Bartoleto is also a possibility.

Alpine:

  1. Jack Doohan (Esteban Ocon’s A524, Canadian Grand Prix)
  2. Jack Doohan (Pierre Gasly’s A524, British Grand Prix)

Alpine is one of the two teams to have already fulfilled its junior driver requirements this year, with the Enstone-based squad having fielded 2025 race driver Jack Doohan for FP1 in Montreal and at Silverstone.

He was driving Esteban Ocon’s car in Montreal, and Pierre Gasly’s car at Silverstone.

Sauber:

  1. Robert Shwartzman (Valtteri Bottas’ C44, Dutch Grand Prix)
  2. Robert Shwartzman (Zhou Guanyu’s C44, Mexico City Grand Prix)

Long-time Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman took over Valtteri Bottas’ C44 for the FP1 session at the Dutch Grand Prix.

With speculation about the possibility of Gabriel Bartoleto as a candidate for the second race seat in 2025, the Brazilian was a hypothetical for the second outing, but Sauber has called upon Shwartzman once again as he steps into Zhou’s car for FP1 in Mexico.

VCARB:

  1. Ayumu Iwasa (Daniel Ricciardo’s VCARB01, Dutch Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (Yuki Tsunoda’s VCARB01, Grand Prix TBC)

Ayumu Iwasa was behind the wheel of Daniel Ricciardo’s VCARB at the Dutch Grand Prix, marking off the first driver requirement of the year for the Italian squad.

There’s nothing to prevent Iwasa from taking over Yuki Tsunoda’s car for the second requirement, in either Mexico or Abu Dhabi, but there’s also the possibility of Isack Hadjar should Red Bull Racing not use him.

Aston Martin:

  1. Felipe Drugovich (Fernando Alonso’s AMR24, Mexico City Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (Lance Stroll’s AMR24, Grand Prix TBC)

Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich will appear at the Mexico City Grand Prix to tick off the first of the Silverstone-based team’s requirements, adding to his increasing list of testing experiences with the team.

Jak Crawford has been announced as taking part in the Abu Dhabi Young Driver test after the last race of the year, meaning he’s likely to be behind the wheel of Lance Stroll’s car during FP1 that weekend as well – although he will have to dovetail this with his Formula 2 duties.

Williams:

  1. Franco Colapinto (Logan Sargeant’s FW46, British Grand Prix)
  2. TBC (Alex Albon’s FW46, Grand Prix TBC)

Franco Colapinto replacing Logan Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix means that the Argentinean driver completed the first practice session requirement for Williams when he headed back out on track at Monza in ‘Sargeant’s car’, having already done so at Silverstone in July.

However, it doesn’t count towards his rookie total as he remained in his own car – Albon’s car hasn’t been used.

With Colapinto having competed in more than two races now, he no longer fulfils the junior driver requirement, meaning Williams must turn towards someone else to step into Albon’s car. Zak O’Sullivan and Luke Browning are the leading candidates for this requirement.

Haas:

  1. Oliver Bearman (Kevin Magnussen’s VF-24, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix)
  2. Oliver Bearman (Nico Hulkenberg’s VF-24, Spanish Grand Prix)

Haas has already completed its rookie requirement for F1 2024, with Oliver Bearman taking over Kevin Magnussen’s car for practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

In Spain, Bearman was at the wheel of Nico Hulkenberg’s VF-24, ticking the box for the American squad nice and early in the year.

Bearman also appeared in FP1 at Silverstone and the Hungaroring, and will also be in the first practice sessions in Abu Dhabi – he was originally scheduled to drive the Haas in Mexico, but Ferrari has snaffled him for this session instead.

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