So far, not a single team has used a Friday driver in practice: will there be a rookie glut again at the end of the season?
Two times per season, each team must give a rookie a Friday practice session in Formula One, but the ten racing teams have not made use of this rule at all so far in 2023: Not a single Friday driver has been used in the first twelve races of the season.
Only McLaren, AlphaTauri and Williams have already fulfilled part of their obligation because in the first race of the season they had a regular driver in Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant who had not yet completed two Grands Prix before – so they have complied with this requirement.
Apart from that, the regular drivers were in action in each of the practice sessions. This was different in the previous year, when the rule of Friday drivers was applied for the first time.
At the same time in the 2022 summer break, three regular drivers had already made way for a rookie at one point: Jüri Vips, who was later released from the junior programme, was used by Red Bull in Barcelona, while de Vries was at the wheel for Williams in Barcelona and for Mercedes in Le Castellet.
In addition, Robert Kubica made three appearances for Alfa Romeo in Spain, France and Hungary, but with 99 Formula 1 races under his belt, he was no longer eligible for the rookie rule. But we are also looking in vain for an experienced Friday driver in 2023.
Nevertheless, the situation in the summer break is similar to last year: three teams have fulfilled part of the obligation, and thus only one less than in 2022, because Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) was also able to make a tick in this respect with his first start in Bahrain back then.
Ten races minus …
Ten races remain for the teams this season to fill their total of 17 open holes. Presumably, however, some races will again feature an increased level of Friday testers.
Because Qatar, Austin and Brazil will be eliminated as fielding options as these are sprint weekends and no team will take away a regular driver’s only practice. Singapore as a difficult street circuit and Las Vegas as a new track are also more likely not to be chosen for the rookie session.
That would leave Zandvoort, Monza, Suzuka, Mexico City and the finale in Abu Dhabi as likely locations.
Neither Zandvoort nor Suzuka featured a single Friday tester in 2022, while at Monza Aston Martin fielded Nyck de Vries before he was later allowed to step in as Alexander Albon’s replacement at Williams and contested his first Grand Prix. Haas also fielded Antonio Giovinazzi in the car outside of regulation.
In Mexico, as in Austin, five non-regular drivers took part in practice before most teams fulfilled their obligation with the last race in Abu Dhabi after all: Eight drivers were not part of the regular line-up there – it could be similar this season.
The only thing that has been confirmed so far is that Frederik Vesti will get a chance to drive for Mercedes in Mexico.
