Young drivers dream of driving for the first time in a full-time for the first time in 2025, but the Australian Grand Prix was a brutal introduction to the sport.
Six of the 20 rookie drivers are rookies this year, though three of them have already completed full seasons in Formula One.
The new boys, Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson, and Oliver Bearman, all had mixed fortunes in Melbourne.
Although it was warm, sunny, and dry for the race weekend, Albert Park was wet, cooler, and changeable, so they were thrown in at the deep end.
The challenging sport’s actuality was quickly put into perspective.
Hadjar of Racing Bulls crashed on his debut during the formation lap before the grand prix had even begun.
The Frenchman, 20, was completely distraught and avoided the pits by keeping his head down and helmet on.
He expressed regret for the team and said, “I’m just embarrassed,” and that’s it.
The first safety car was driven by Australian Doohan, 22, who had received plenty of attention in front of his home crowd but crashed on the first lap.
After signing a full-time contract with the team and competing in the final race of 2024 in Abu Dhabi, Doohan said, “I didn’t really understand what happened, it just seemed as I upshifted fourth gear, and I lost the car,” so it’s a lesson learned.
“I’ll make sure I spend some time with the boys to understand it and prevent it from occurring again.”
Red Bull’s Lawson, the team-mate of four-time world champion Max Verstappen, was another participant in the finale.
With 11 races under his belt in 2023 and 2024, Lawson, who previously worked for Alpha Tauri/RB, became the team’s Racing Bulls.
The 23-year-old New Zealander spun off with 12 laps to go before wrapping up what he called “a really tough weekend.”
He was eliminated in the first session due to his mistakes in qualifying.
From qualifying to the performance of the race, to myself, Lawson said, “I will reflect on this and look over everything,” Lawson said. “I will reset for China.”
Bearman, 19, is the third rookie to have race experience since Carlos Sainz left for Ferrari last season. He later participated in two races for Haas, who he is currently supporting in 2025.
His Friday and Saturday performances were unmanageable. He crashed during his first practice, which caused him to miss crucial running in the following session.
It continued even further. Bearman lost control of his car in the final minutes of Saturday’s final practice, ending up in the gravel.
His gearbox broke on his first lap of pits, so he didn’t set a time because he was hoping to win in qualifying.
Bortoleto, the back-to-back F1 and F3 champion, made a promising debut for Sauber, but the rain on Sunday stifled his attempt.
The Brazilian, age 20, outqualified Nico Hulkenberg, a seasoned teammate, but he crashed late into the race and was forced to retire.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes, made his way through the field from 16th to finish fourth, the rookie who reversed the trend.
He did have a spin and received a five-second penalty for a pit lane unsafe release, but the decision was later overturned.
The Italian thanked the team for doing a great job of “guiding” him through the race and declared himself “really happy” with the result, which made him the third-youngest driver in Formula One history.
Many of the rookies find it difficult to work, but they can be comforted knowing that some of the more experienced drivers were also affected by the circumstances.
Carlos Sainz, the previous year’s winner, crashed on the first lap, but he gained valuable strategic insight for the rest of the race, assisting team-mate Alex Albon in finishing fifth.
The most successful driver in Formula One history, 43-year-old Fernando Alonso, crashed his Aston Martin to bring out the second of three safety cars, respectively.
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Source: BBC
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