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.”
What new names have already driven during FP1 at a Grand Prix in 2024?
Heading into the final six 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, such as the example of Haas scheduling Oliver Bearman with six 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.
An interesting loophole that can also be exploited is that a rookie driver taking part in their first races in F1 can also fulfil the requirement. For instance, this season has seen Franco Colapinto replace Logan Sargeant at Williams – his two first practice sessions thus ticked the box for the Grove-based squad.
Of the six remaining races, Mexico and Abu Dhabi are the most likely weekends in which the teams can fulfil 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:
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:
Kimi Antonelli (George Russell’s W15, Italian Grand Prix)
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:
TBC (Charles Leclerc’s SF-24, Grand Prix TBC)
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.
With Bearman out of contention, as he drives for Haas in these sessions, Ferrari will likely turn to Robert Shwartzman to tick these boxes. If not, might Arthur Leclerc be an option?
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:
Oliver Bearman (Kevin Magnussen’s VF-24, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix)
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.
