The six F1 drivers starting a first full season
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Six of 20 drivers will start their first full season on the grid in Melbourne.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MELBOURNE – Formula One will have a bumper crop of rookies this season, with six of the 20 drivers on the grid in Melbourne starting their first full season, even if only three of them are race debutants.
Here are their individual prospects.
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
The 18-year-old replaces seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The 18-year-old is Italy’s first F1 driver since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021 and replaces seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Those are massive shoes to fill for someone who passed his driving test only in January, but Antonelli made a good start in testing, going fastest in the first session in Bahrain and making no mistakes.
Mercedes are protective of him while confident that he is the real deal, with teammate George Russell saying: “Kimi absolutely has the speed. He’s proven that in all of his categories.”
Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Ferrari academy driver Oliver Bearman has already started three races, making a stunning debut for Ferrari last season.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ferrari academy driver Bearman, 19, has already started three races, making a stunning debut with seventh place for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia last season when Carlos Sainz had appendicitis. That made the Briton, at 18, the youngest F1 rookie to race for Ferrari. He then filled in twice at Haas for Kevin Magnussen, scoring a further point in Azerbaijan.
Team boss Ayao Komatsu rates Bearman very highly but experienced teammate Esteban Ocon, who has joined from Alpine, will be the measure of his speed.
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
Gabriel Bortoleto will be the first Brazilian full-time F1 driver since Felipe Massa retired in 2017.
PHOTO: AFP
Bortoleto, 20, is the reigning F2 champion and will be the first Brazilian full-time F1 driver since Felipe Massa retired in 2017. From Sao Paulo, he is a protege of Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso and will now be racing his manager.
Bortoleto won the F3 title as a rookie in 2023. In 2024 he became the first driver to win an F2 feature race from last position.
Jack Doohan (Alpine)
Jack Doohan spent last season as Alpine reserve, making a race debut in Abu Dhabi last December.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The 22-year-old is the son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick and won Australian national titles in karting. He was runner-up in F3 in 2021 and third in F2 in 2023. He spent last season as an Alpine reserve, making a race debut in Abu Dhabi last December as replacement for Ocon.
How long he stays in the seat remains to be seen, with Argentinian Franco Colapinto waiting for his chance and a clear threat.
Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
Isack Hadjar has already been dubbed “Le Petit Prost” by Red Bull’s Helmut Marko.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Hadjar, 20, was runner-up to Bortoleto in F2 last season and has already been dubbed “Le Petit Prost” by Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, after France’s four-time world champion Alain Prost. He replaces Liam Lawson, who has moved to Red Bull, as teammate to Yuki Tsunoda.
Hadjar, whose father Yassine has a doctorate in quantum physics, is French of Algerian descent and has dual nationality. He is quick and will impress if he can beat Tsunoda.
Liam Lawson (Red Bull)
Liam Lawson has already started 11 races and scored six points.
PHOTO: AFP
Lawson, 23, is the oldest and most experienced of the rookies and has already started 11 races and scored six points. The New Zealander debuted at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix when Daniel Ricciardo injured his hand, racing five times that year. He replaced the dropped Ricciardo from the United States Grand Prix last season and was promoted to Red Bull when Sergio Perez lost his seat.
He sees this year as a learning one and his job is to help Max Verstappen win a fifth title and the team regain the constructors’ crown. REUTERS
