Aussie one of TEN young guns set to drive in wild F1 practice: LIVE

Australia’s Jack Doohan will get his second drive in an F1 weekend this season when he takes to the track at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Friday’s Free Practice 1.

Doohan will be one of ten rookie drivers to take part in the hour-long session (8.30pm AEDT) when he takes over from Esteban Ocon for Alpine.

Doohan, who is Alpine’s reserve driver, finished 18th in practice one in Mexico. But having driven in both Mexico and Abu Dhabi last year, he’ll be hoping to use his experience around this track to make a case that he’s a future F1 driver.

The 20-year-old has not been locked in for a drive for next season, but there is one spot potentially available on the F1 grid as Logan Sargeant’s place at Williams remains in doubt.

Under F1 rules, every team must run a rookie driver – someone who has raced in two or less grands prix – for two sessions across the season.

Some teams instead use two separate drivers for one session each to test out new talent.

Given Abu Dhabi is the season finale, a full 10 drivers – half the grid – will be rookies, as teams fulfil their obligations at the final opportunity.

That includes Red Bull, who are making the bold decision to replace both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez for FP1.

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Jake Dennis, a Red Bull development driver who won the 2023 Formula E championship, gets his first outing in an F1 weekend. Isaak Hadjar will run in the other RB19, after impressing for AlphaTauri in FP1 in Mexico.

Talented Ferrari rookie Robert Shwartzman gets his second drive of the season, while Theo Pourchaire will again drive for AlfaRomeo on the same weekend the F2 championship leader looks to wrap up that title.

It’ll be a very busy day for Doohan and a number of the other F2 drivers, who will have just over an hour and a half after Formula 2 practice finishes before jumping into the F1 car.

After the F1 practice session ends, Doohan has just 30 minutes to head back into his F2 drive for qualifying.

Rookies in FP1

Red Bull Racing: Isack Hadjar and Jake Dennis.

Mercedes: Frederik Vesti.

Ferrari: Robert Shwartzman.

McLaren: Pato O’Ward.

Aston Martin: Felipe Drugovich.

Alpine: Jack Doohan.

Williams: Zak O’Sullivan.

Alfa Romeo: Theo Pourchaire.

Haas: Oliver Bearman.

EVERY ABU DHABI GP SESSION TIME

FRIDAY

Free Practice 1: 8.30pm AEDT