Eight F1 teams still have rookie FP1 sessions to complete

After the latest rookie appearances in first practice (FP1) in Mexico City, three teams had completed their 2026 tallies: Racing Bulls and Aston Martin at 4/4, Cadillac at 5/5. Eight teams still had appearances outstanding: McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Haas, Audi and Alpine at 3/4 each, Ferrari at 2/4 and Williams at 4/5.

The rule change ahead of 2025 aimed to give young drivers more relevant track time. It doubled the required rookie running from one FP1 session per car to two per car—four per team. An eligible rookie must have started no more than two Grands Prix.

Leonardo Fornaroli has completed all three of McLaren's sessions so far, taking Lando Norris's car in Barcelona and Mexico City and Oscar Piastri's in Hungary. Mercedes is also at 3/4: Fred Vesti replaced Kimi Antonelli in Barcelona and George Russell in Mexico City.

Red Bull stands at 3/4. Ayumu Iwasa deputised for Isack Hadjar in Barcelona. Max Verstappen sat out FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix and in Mexico City, leaving Hadjar one more session to miss.

Ferrari sits at 2/4. Dino Beganovic took Lewis Hamilton's car in Barcelona and Charles Leclerc's in Austria; both drivers still have one more FP1 to miss. Williams is at 4/5. Car problems ruined Luke Browning's planned Barcelona run in Alex Albon's car; Browning then took Carlos Sainz's car in Austria, while Albon sat out in Italy and Mexico City for Browning's fourth official appearance.

Racing Bulls and Aston Martin are both at 4/4. Arvid Lindblad completed his two rookie sessions for Racing Bulls in Australia and China; Liam Lawson sat out in Austria and Mexico City, for Ayumu Iwasa and Nikola Tsolov respectively. Jak Crawford filled Aston Martin's four rookie appearances, taking Fernando Alonso's car in Japan and Belgium and Lance Stroll's in Austria and Mexico City.

Haas is at 3/4: Esteban Ocon gave up his seat in Austria and Mexico City for Ryo Hirakawa, while Oliver Bearman missed FP1 in Hungary. Both still have one session left to miss. Audi is at 3/4: Paul Aron took over Nico Hulkenberg's car in Barcelona, Gabriel Bortoleto handed over in Austria, and Freddie Slater made his F1 weekend debut in Mexico City for Bortoleto. Alpine is also at 3/4: Paul Aron replaced Franco Colapinto in Hungary and Pierre Gasly in Italy, then Colapinto stepped aside in Mexico City for Gabriele Mini.

Cadillac's tally reached 5/5 when Valtteri Bottas sat out Mexico City; that meant Colton Herta qualified for his superlicence. Three further FP1 changes are planned for Brazil: Fornaroli will take Piastri's McLaren, Sainz will stand down for Williams, and Slater will drive Hulkenberg's Audi.