Four driver names on the F1 timing charts of this weekend’s FP1 session at the Hungarian Grand Prix may not look as familiar as they usually do to those tuning in.
This is because there are four full-time drivers who will be giving up their seat for the first hour of practice at the Hungaroring to hand their machinery over to a ‘rookie’ driver to test out instead.
Let’s take a look at the full list of drivers (at the time of writing) who will be stepping aside for FP1 in Hungary.
Fornaroli will join Lando Norris in the other MCL40 in his second rookie session of the season, having tried out the reigning champion’s machinery in Barcelona last month.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto will also be absent from FP1 as Paul Aron returns to the track in his role as F1 reserve driver with the Enstone-based outfit, having also deputised for both Audi F1 drivers in the past after Alpine loaned him out to the squad formerly known as Sauber.
And the fourth and final driver swap which will take place on Friday, July 24, concerns Cadillac and F2 driver Colton Herta.
The test driver for the brand new squad will be replacing Valtteri Bottas this weekend for FP1, with the American driver saying ahead of his outing: “It’s very exciting to get another chance in FP1. It’s a good opportunity for my personal experience, but the ultimate goal is, of course, to help the team with its development.
“It’s been six weeks since I was last in the car, and there’s been a lot of evolution in that time. My job is to help the race drivers have the best possible Hungarian Grand Prix – but also provide the feedback that will aid the team in its long-term development aims and give me a better baseline in future sessions.”
In case you’re new to F1 or you’ve never found yourself wondering who the drivers are that occasionally pop up on the timings charts, here’s how it works.
Each constructor must have both of their full-time drivers vacate their seat for two FP1 sessions across every campaign, meaning all 11 F1 teams should field a rookie driver on four separate occasions across their two cars.
The rules require each team to give an equal amount of opportunities to young drivers or racers with less experience in F1, with the term ‘rookie’ being defined as an individual who is yet to complete more than two F1 grands prix.
Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.
Mercedes F1 star George Russell has been handed some harsh words of wisdom following a Belgian Grand Prix to forget.
The British racer faced the cameras on Sunday much earlier than the rest of the pack having crashed out of the 44-lap race on lap one after colliding with Lewis Hamilton at Turn 5.
Hamilton continued his race to cross the line P4 on Sunday, sending him up the championship standings into P2, overtaking Russell.
When the 28-year-old headed to the media pen immediately after the crash, he appeared to be holding back tears, telling Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater: “The incident shouldn’t have happened if I had the speed down the straight..I’m very, very disappointed.
“I appreciate everyone’s working hard to solve the problem, but you know I’m stood here on lap five of the race, and felt like I was in a good position to fight for the lead into turn one, and then suddenly no power, and it’s all gone.”
“These things can happen, whether you’re in the front, in the middle, or the back of the pack,” Wolff said about Russell’s unfortunate collision.
“George had a difficult weekend. Probably half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn’t as good as it should have been on his side, and the other the other side maybe on the driving.”
Windsor: Russell must focus on himself to get over Mercedes issues
Mercedes and Russell now have the unenviable task of attempting to unpack the boost issue Russell spoke of in Spa in just a matter of days, with the European double header continuing with this weekend’s Hungarian GP.
The problems Russell spoke of after his incident with Hamilton are unlikely to be fixed in time for his return to the Hungaroring, and former F1 team manager and analyst Peter Windsor thinks the Brit should completely switch off from his Mercedes simulator preparation instead.
Speaking in a clip which was posted to social media following the Belgian GP, Windsor questioned Russell’s claims of dealing with a boost issue last weekend despite the Brit clearly struggling with a lack of pace compared to his rivals on the straights.
When Windsor was reminded just how far behind Kimi Antonelli George Russell was during practice in Spa, Windsor said: “But you know what he said about that? He said, ‘We overestimated the grip [on the track in the sim].
“Well, you know, don’t use the sim as much then. Think about it. Spa, it does rain. The track goes green. You know, these things happen. Go there with an open mind.
“It’s the same with Oscar [Piastri]. You know, as I said last year, and I’ve been saying this, he’s completely lost because of the telemetry they keep using and the sims they keep doing. And that’s that’s the great pitfall.”
Windsor then suggested Russell should focus on himself moving forwards and not get distracted with the data of his championship leading team-mate, saying: “You think Kimi spends a massive amount of time looking at George’s telemetry? Exactly.
“He’s a young kid getting out there and he’s sniffing the air and getting in the race car and feeling the surface of the road and driving it. That’s what he needs. That’s what George needs to learn from Kimi.
“Go back to square one and just do that.”
Abandoning the use of the simulator is of course something that seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has had to do this season at Ferrari to find the answers to his own issues.
Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.
However, for the fifth time in six races, one of the Mercedes cars didn’t pick up a single point. This time it was George Russell, who came into contact with Lewis Hamilton’s car on lap one and went spinning off into the gravel and out of the race.
The Maranello-based squad are very much in the hunt for their first title of any kind since 2008, but certainly need to try to make improvements to their power unit if they are to maintain pace in the standings.
Now, Corriere Della Sera are reporting that Ferrari do have some upgrades on the way for their power unit which will help them, particularly at more high-speed circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps.
The above publication have said that the next upgraded power unit will come in time for their home race at Monza, the Italian Grand Prix on September 6.
That will be the 13th round of the season, and is the next high-speed circuit similar to Spa-Francorchamps, with it being nicknamed the ‘Temple of Speed’.
There is often a lot of pressure on Ferrari to perform at Monza, and they will be looking to put on a show there and really show that they can challenge for this season’s world championship.
Carlos Sainz believes that Kimi Antonelli needs to keep his emotions in check following an incident during the first practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix.
The championship leader was upset following what he felt was an impeding incident from Williams driver Sainz, and it led to the young Italian calling the Spaniard an ‘idiot’ over Mercedes team radio.
Now, Sainz has insisted that his rival’s comments on team radio were both inappropriate and uncalled for.
The incident unfolded as the drivers exited the Stavelot corner at the Spa Circuit.
Antonelli, feeling hindered by the slow-moving Williams ahead, eased off the throttle and cut in right in front of Sainz. In doing this, the 19‐year-old Italian also shouted over team radio: “Sainz, what an idiot!”
Shortly after, near the bus stop chicane, Sainz got his car back into the rhythm while Antonelli chose to head to the pit lane instead of engaging in further on-track battles.
“I think he felt like I impeded him, I don’t feel like I did,” Sainz told media after the session.
“I guess nowadays with the SM [straight mode], if you don’t get out of the way exactly, you cannot turn because you have no downforce with the wings open.
“Maybe he felt like I could have got out of the way in a better way. But I don’t think he should call me an idiot either, on the radio, I think that’s forbidden, to swear and insult a rival – so I think he should calm down a bit.”
“He backed off out of a fast corner, you exit in seventh gear, and I had to abort and it was quite risky,” Antonelli told media after the incident.
“So of course I was not happy with it and of course what I said probably, in the heat of the moment, is not the best – but it was quite dangerous.”
The stewards declined to take action against Sainz for a possible impeding penalty, suggesting they saw nothing wrong with Sainz’s actions in the session.
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