At the Mexican Grand Prix, almost half of the normal F1 field is missing from the first free practice session. Nine team drivers leave their seats to development and test drivers. It is a remarkably large swap this year.<\/p>\n
The explanation starts with the regulations. Since 2022, a so-called rookie must appear twice in FP1. A rookie is someone who has a maximum of two World Cup starts to his name. There is no age limit.<\/p>\n
In 2025, that requirement has been tightened. Teams must now make those rookie appearances four times. As a result, there will be room to replace regular drivers with newcomers more often this season.<\/p>\n
Mexico is popular for several reasons. It is late in the season. Teams usually have few new parts or major updates then. As a result, there is less technical knowledge to lose if a regular driver misses one session.<\/p>\n
Sprint weekends also come into play. During sprint weekends, you cannot make substitutions for FP1 only. That limits opportunities elsewhere on the calendar. Mexico and Abu Dhabi therefore remain suitable venues to fill in rookie hours.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, practice here runs during the day. The important sessions and qualifying often take place under lights. As a result, FP1's daytime practice is less representative of what counts later.<\/p>\n
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez calls for maximum downforce. Yet the track provides little real downforce due to its high altitude. The circuit lies just below 2,300 metres altitude. Air density is significantly lower there.<\/p>\n
But the main feature is how \u201cgreen\u201d the track is for FP1. The asphalt is often dusty and offers little grip in the first runs. During the weekend, the track changes dramatically. That strong evolution makes the data from FP1 difficult to interpret.<\/p>\n
Several regular drivers feel you lose little by skipping FP1 at this track. The track is often four seconds slower in FP1 than in qualifying. This is due to dirt and difference in conditions. Sometimes it even helps not to ride FP1. You then avoid bad first experiences and go into FP2 blank.<\/p>\n
Some drivers already have experience on both sides. One driver who has debuted here before in FP1 said Mexico is a logical choice to miss a session. He admitted that he made the wrong choice of another circuit once, but that Mexico is the right place to sacrifice one.<\/p>\n
Other drivers pointed out that missing FP1 could have drawbacks. A team that introduced a major aerodynamic upgrade therefore had less routine testing in FP1 to fine-tune new settings. Such unexpected situations are difficult to assess in advance.<\/p>\n
Teams use Mexico to showcase young talent as well as experienced test drivers in action. These are the names that will be in action in FP1:<\/p>\n
Sauber is the only formation without a rookie this time. They have already fulfilled the requirement. That was because Gabriel Bortoleto and Paul Aron previously filled in sessions for the team.<\/p>\n
For the teams, the priority is clear: the replacements must drive professionally and consistently. For the rookies, it is a chance to impress. Some names are already seen as future F1 material. A teammate who has done rookie hours before explicitly pointed to Luke Browning as someone to keep an eye on. He performs strongly in F2 and does a lot of private training with his team.<\/p>\n
All in all, Mexico remains one of the best venues to give young drivers experience without putting teams at too much risk.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Big change in FP1: nine rookies on track At the Mexican Grand Prix, almost half of the normal F1 field is missing in the first free practice session. Nine team drivers leave their seats to development and test drivers. It is a remarkably large swap this year. The rules explain The explanation begins at [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formule-1"],"yoast_head":"\n