The Mexican Grand Prix takes place this weekend in an unexpectedly exciting final stretch of the season, but beyond the Verstappen-McLaren fight (that got a little dirty in Austin), it will be the chance for nine rookies to take the wheel of Formula 1 in Free Practice 1. Nine rookies will participate in the practice session on Friday.
It comes down to FIA's mandatory rule of having every team swap one of their drivers seats by a rookie twice per season during the practice sessions, so that those young drivers can gain some real experience in the Formula 1 circuits. By official definition, a rookie is someone with less than two Grand Prix starts.
Many teams have opted for Mexico to give their rookies the chance. The reason is that the upcoming Grand Prix in Brazil and Qatar have sprint races, which means the teams would want their main drivers to have all the experience possible. As a result, there will be nine rookies this Friday: one from every team except Sauber.
McLaren: Pato O'Ward replaces Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri
Mercedes: Fred Vesti replacing George Russell
Ferrari: Antonio Fuoco replaces Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull: Arvid Lindblad replaces Yuki Tsunoda
Williams: Luke Browning replaces Carlos Sainz
Aston Martin: Jak Crawford replaces Lance Stroll
Haas: Ryo Hirakawa replaces Ollie Bearman
Racing Bulls: Ayumu Iwasa replaces Liam Lawson
Alpine: Paul Aron replaces Pierre Gasly