Every F1 rookie driving in Mexico GP practice: Can they grab their chance?

Ten of F1’s 11 teams will putting 'inexperienced' rookie drivers into their cars during this weekend’s Mexico City GP Free Practice One.

We’ll see rising British stars, American hot shots and F2 heroes making a bid to impress.

They’re doing so as part of F1’s rule that each team must give over two FP1 sessions per car to a rookie who has competed in two grands prix or less. Does anyone amongst the raft of contenders this weekend really have a chance of making it to the big time? We run through the field.

Mercedes: Frederik Vesti replaces George Russell

Not just any F1 rookie, Vesti has been a Mercedes junior since 2021, and is now the grand prix team’s third driver.

This marks his seventh FP1 session. Having won seven F2 races and finishing second in the series in 2023, he now also competes in the IMSA Sportscar Championship driving a Cadillac Hypercar.

Having been around Mercedes for five years, is it likely he’ll ever get a race seat? It doesn’t look that way, and other teams usually prefer to hire their own young drivers rather than poach them from rival outfits.

Red Bull Racing: Ayumu Iwasa replaces Max Verstappen

After winning five F2 races between 2022-2023, Iwasa has since moved to the Japanese Super Formula single-seater series.

Though on the Red Bull books since 2021 and kept on after its split with Honda, the reality of him actually making it to F1 seems slim.

That hasn’t stopped him racking up the Free Practice sessions though, completing nine across the last three seasons for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls.

McLaren: Leonardo Fornaroli replaces Lando Norris

Getting into F1 is all about timing. 2024 F2 champ Gabriel Bortoletto earned a seat at Audi the following year, while this season’s feeder series leader Rafael Camara has landed at Haas.

There’s been no room at the F1 inn for Leonardo Fornaroli though, who’s found himself relegated to McLaren Le Mans Hypercar squad. Still, he gets to do the odd FP1 session for them.

Racing Bulls: Nikola Tsolov replaces Liam Lawson

Finally, a guy who’s got a chance. Nikola Tsolov is stealing the show with his star power at the sharp end in F2, giving Red Bull a headache every team would love to have.

Liam Lawson is getting a bit long in the tooth for an ‘F1 junior’ now at its Racing Bulls squad, but has been brilliant for the team this season, racking up the points finishes.

Will it get rid of the safe bet points-scorer for a mercurial youngster?

Alpine: Gabriele Minì replaces Franco Colapinto

It took Gabriele Mini 33 races to win his first F2 round, and another 14 to get his second.

We’re not saying it’s easy, but the chances of the Sicilian getting onto the grand prix grid currently look remote at best.

Haas: Ryo Hirakawa replaces Esteban Ocon

32-year-old F1 ‘rookie’ Ryo Hirakawa has had a racing career to be proud of, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2022 as well as the World Endurance Championship three times. He’s also been successful in Super GT and Super Formula, but his F1 dream appears to be over.

Not that he’s had a good go. During the Alex Palou vs McLaren trial, it emerged that Toyota, on behalf of Hirakawa, had the paid the F1 $3.5m (£2.6m) to get behind the wheel of its F1 car during Abu Dhabi 2024’s FP1.

When Haas chose Rafael Camara to partner Ollie Bearman next year, Hirakawa’s F1 race chances looked over, but Toyota (which has a technical relationship with the team) is still giving him free practice priority.

Audi: Freddie Slater replaces Gabriel Bortoleto

The Warwickshire-born racing driver could be Britain’s next big thing in F1.

He’s lit up the junior formula, just losing out to Ugo Ugochukwu this year in F3, but appears primed to takeover from Nico Hulkenberg at Audi whenever the German moves on.

18-year-old Slater was hot property for F1 teams after winning so many junior titles, but a year ago he plumped for Audi to take his career to the next level.

Williams: Luke Browning replaces Alex Albon

Luke Browning won the British F4 championship in 2020, the GB3 series in 2022 and then finished fourth in F2 in 2025, but has since seen his momentum stall with an indifferent year in Super Formula.

With Albon and Sainz locked in longterm at Williams, Browning - who has been part of its driver academy since April 2023 - might have to look outside F1 for future career prospects.

Aston Martin: Jak Crawford replaces Lance Stroll

A promising junior career culminated in second place in 2025's F2 championship last year for North Carolina-native Jak Crawford.

That was his third go at the series however, and he was beaten by rookie Leonardo Fornaroli.

Can you really see him unseating Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll at Aston Martin? Us neither. It might be time for IndyCar.

Cadillac: Colton Herta replaces Valtteri Bottas

Colton Herta has been a confusing prospect since joining F2 this year.

The former IndyCar star had it all in America. He was the best paid driver in the series, played drums in a band with his school mates and was a fan favourite.

He gave it all up to chase the super licence points needed to realise his grand prix dream with Cadillac, but has had a disastrous 2026 season in F2.

Herta has simply failed to get to grips with the Pirelli tyres used on the F1 ladder. He needs one more Free Practice session to have enough Super Licence points for the world championship, but would Cadillac choose him over the slightly slow yet reliable Valtteri Bottas?