Max Verstappen is among a host of high-profile F1 drivers who will skip FP1 at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday, with multiple teams announcing switches. A host of rookie drivers will take to the track at the start of race weekend, including Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa, who is set to make his debut to afford Verstappen a rest.
The Japanese 23-year-old has previously represented Racing Bulls, featuring in FP1 ahead of last season’s Japanese Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. George Russell will also sit out of FP1 in Bahrain, with Mercedes reserve Frederik Vesti primed to pause his IMSA series preparations to take his place. Charles Leclerc won’t be involved either, letting Ferrari junior driver Dino Beganovic receive a taste of F1 machinery.
Aston Martin have made a change, confirming that reserve driver Felipe Drugovich will be back in the cockpit in the place of Fernando Alonso.
Carlos Sainz also won’t feature in FP1, making way for Williams junior driver Luke Browning, who landed on the podium in the Melbourne sprint race at the start of the F2 season.
Finally, new reserve arrival Ryo Hirakawa will be in the Haas instead of Ollie Bearman, a week after taking FP1 duties for Alpine at Suzuka.
The number of required rookie sessions in F1 has increased from two to four in 2025, a criteria several teams will have to meet.
The rules describe a rookie as a driver with two or fewer race races in F1, meaning multiple full-time drivers who are new to their teams have counted towards it this season.
Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Jack Doohan at Alpine, Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber and Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls counted towards rookie sessions in FP1 in Melbourne.
Verstappen may not be involved in FP1, but he’s preparing to push for back-to-back wins after his surprise Japanese Grand Prix win ahead of the McLarens.
The Dutchman has insisted that he doesn’t expect to get used to the taste of victory, with plenty of work on the Red Bull car still needed.
“I don’t think [I’ll be consistently winning], but honestly, like I said, we take it. It was very hard to pass around here,” Verstappen explained.
“Bahrain – completely different track, very tough on tyres, tyres overheating as well. We still have work to do. But it does show that if we really nail everything, we can be up there.
“But from our side, we want to be better than just sometimes being up there. So we just keep working hard and just see where we can be at in Bahrain already.
“Hopefully, we keep on improving the car, with the through corner balance, and then hopefully, it unlocks also just in general a bit more pace.”