Every team except Sauber to run rookie driver during first practice in Mexico

All bar one of Formula 1’s 10 teams will run an inexperienced driver during the first practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix on Friday.

Ferrari became the ninth team to confirm its practice driver plans for the upcoming race weekend. Antonio Fuoco will make his debut in an official F1 practice session at the wheel of Lewis Hamilton’s car. He will join fellow newcomer Jak Crawford, who will make his debut for Aston Martin in Lance Stroll’s car.

Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will hand their cars over to Arvid Lindblad and Pato O’Ward respectively for the first session. Ayumu Iwasa, who previously drove Verstappen’s Red Bull in Bahrain, will return in Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls car.

Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa will make their fourth appearances of the year, for Alpine and Haas respectively. Frederic Vesti will return for Mercedes and Luke Browning will drive for Williams.

Sauber has already fulfilled its obligation to run two drivers who have started no more than two grands prix in each of their cars twice over the course of the season.

Mercedes will join them this weekend, leaving eight teams with further practice runs to complete before the end of the season. Most are expected to do so in the season finale at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi; Haas have already confirmed they will do this with Hirakawa.

*Jack Doohan drove in the first two first practice sessions of the season for Alpine before he had started more than two grands prix and could therefore have qualified to count as a junior driver. However the team chose not to nominate him as such a driver for these two appearances. Felipe Drugovich replaced Fernando Alonso for first practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix but this change occured too late for him to be nominated.

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