Almost all of the F1 teams have taken the opportunity to run one of their rookies as part of their mandatory sessions in FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

In all, 10 of the 11 teams have taken the chance to swap out one of their drivers to give a rookie an opportunity behind the wheel – with only Ferrari not taking the opportunity.

F1 rookies: Who are the FP1 drivers at the F1 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix?

Gabriele Mini – Alpine

Gabriele Mini will be running in Franco Colapinto’s car in FP1 in Mexico, and the Alpine junior currently sits fourth in the Formula 2 standings. This is his first free practice session in a Formula 1 car.

Jak Crawford – Aston Martin

Aston Martin’s reserve driver, Jak Crawford, will be taking the wheel of Lance Stroll’s car in FP1. This is his fourth FP1 session of the season, which also fulfils the team’s rookie requirement.

Freddie Slater – Audi

Highly-rated Briton Freddie Slater will be making his free practice debut for Audi in Mexico City, having flown the flag for the team as its first ever junior driver. He finished runner-up in the Formula 3 standings this season. Slater takes the place of Gabriel Bortoleto in this session.

Colton Herta – Cadillac

Potentially rumoured to be in the frame for a Cadillac race seat if he secures his FIA Super Licence, Herta is running his fifth FP1 session of the season as he looks to gather another point by completing at least 100km in the session, replacing Valtteri Bottas.

Ryo Hirakawa – Haas

A Toyota factory driver, Hirakawa has run in TPC outings for Haas and is a two-time Hypercar World Champion with the Japanese marque. He will be driving Esteban Ocon’s car.

Leonardo Fornaroli – McLaren

Leonardo Fornaroli will be driving Lando Norris’ car in FP1. One of McLaren’s reserve and junior drivers, the highly-rated 2025 Formula 2 champion has also tested with Haas, and will be joining McLaren’s Hypercar programme when it debuts in the World Endurance Championship next year.

Frederik Vesti – Mercedes

A Mercedes reserve and simulator driver, Vesti has taken in sportscar racing in the United States alongside running his Mercedes duties this season. This is his seventh time in an FP1 session, and he will take the wheel of George Russell’s car.

Nikola Tsolov – Racing Bulls

Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov is known to be one of the drivers in consideration for a seat at Racing Bulls next season, and takes part in his first FP1 session as he currently sits P2 in the Formula 2 standings. He replaces Liam Lawson for this FP1 session.

Ayumu Iwasa – Red Bull

Running in his eighth FP1 session, 25-year-old Ayumu Iwasa is a reserve driver at both Red Bull and Racing Bulls, and has run in these sessions for both teams across the seasons. He will replace Max Verstappen for the session.

Luke Browning – Williams

Williams junior Luke Browning will be replacing Alex Albon in the FP1 session in Mexico City. He has competed in Super Formula in Japan this season, alongside reserve duties with Williams.

Why do teams need to run rookies in FP1 sessions?

Every team has to run a rookie, defined as drivers with two or fewer Grand Prix starts, in an FP1 session through the course of a whole season, swapping out each driver twice in the process.

This is to offer more young drivers Formula 1 opportunities at live race weekends, with on-track testing having largely been limited in the past two decades.

The number of rookie sessions had been a minimum of two per year beforehand, but this has recently been upped to four per season to offer further opportunities.