What a difference 12 months can make.
Prior to the 2024 season, for the first time in F1 history, not one team changed their driver lineup in the off-season. It gave the look of a sport in stagnation, particularly amid Max Verstappen’s hyper-dominance, with fresh blood and intrigue nowhere to be seen.
Where was the next generation? Well, they were actually just a year behind.
This year sees six full-time rookies (classed as rookies because, despite three having race starts to their name, this is their first full-time seat in F1) enter the fray, with eight teams in total changing their driver lineup.
So ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 16 March, who are the rookies who have been thrown into the limelight at the top tier of world motorsport?
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
It was the big question last year – who would be capable of replacing seven-time world champion and Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes?
Carlos Sainz? No. Fernando Alonso? No. Instead, Toto Wolff has turned to Mercedes’ hottest academy product, with a staggeringly impressive junior résumé.
Kimi Antonelli – who ironically hails from Bologna, close to Ferrari’s Maranello HQ – joined Mercedes’ junior programme at the age of 11 and quickly rose to prominence as he steamrolled to success in karting and junior single-seaters.
He won the European Karting Championship in 2020 and 2021, Italian F4 in 2022 and Formula Regional championships in Europe and the Middle East in 2023. As such, he skipped F3 to race in F2 last year for Prema, finishing an impressive sixth for a team whose car did not reach the heights expected.
As last year developed, it soon became clear that Antonelli was the man (or should I say, teenager) Wolff had plumped for. There was an initial setback: a day before his promotion was confirmed, Antonelli crashed in his first F1 practice session at Monza, spinning into the wall at Tamburello corner.
At 18, he is raw. But his natural speed is frightening.
Wolff has had Antonelli earmarked as his own version of Max Verstappen for some time. Should the Italian secure a shock victory in the first three races this year, Antonelli will break the Dutchman’s record for the youngest driver to win an F1 race.
Over the course of a season, can he challenge George Russell? We’ll soon find out.
Liam Lawson (Red Bull)
Lawson has featured in 11 F1 races so far (five in 2023, six in 2024) but the first foray was as a stand-in, while the second was an audition for the mothership.
In what has been an incredible ascension, the Kiwi will now partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025, taking his place in the hardest seat in F1.
The 23-year-old has impressed with his on-track speed and attitude, despite fewer than a dozen starts. Singapore in 2023 was when people first took note, where he navigated the most humid race of the season to finish ninth.
He replicated that result in Austin a year later, before wagging his middle finger to Sergio Perez during a contentious moment in Mexico a week later.
Lawson has fire in his belly. Christian Horner has praised his “versatility and racecraft” – he’ll need both attributes to be firing to challenge Verstappen on a regular basis.
For Lawson himself, he described the call-up as a “lifelong dream”. But Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon will tell you that a Red Bull dream can quickly turn into a disaster. Their skillset was not in doubt. But their experience was lacking.
It is a massive opportunity, but Lawson needs to hit the ground running.
Ollie Bearman (Haas)
The rookie story of 2024, Bearman will drive for American-owned, Ferrari-powered Haas this year as a result, largely, of a memorable F1 debut in Saudi Arabia last March.
Stepping in for the ill Carlos Sainz, Bearman qualified a respectable 11th and finished seventh – ahead of Hamilton and Lando Norris – at one of the most feared street circuits on the calendar in Jeddah.
From that moment, a spot on the 20-man grid seemed inevitable. His 2025 spot was confirmed at Silverstone, and another stand-in moment in Azerbaijan for Haas brought another top-10 finish, showing that Bearman (raised in Chelmsford, Essex) is ready for his F1 promotion at 19.
He has a two-year contract at Haas, racing alongside experienced race winner Esteban Ocon in what should be a fascinating intra-team battle this year. And if he continues to shine, a spot at Ferrari (perhaps replacing Hamilton) is not out of the question in the future, given his Ferrari links.
Jack Doohan (Alpine)
The son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick, Jack Doohan has waited patiently for his chance at Alpine.
He has now got it, but will already be feeling the heat.
Doohan will compete in his home race in Melbourne with reserve driver Franco Colapinto – signed from Williams in the off-season – breathing down his neck for his seat. It is hardly ideal circumstances for the 22-year-old, who has dealt with it admirably so far.
A third-place finish in F2 in 2023 shows his potential, but Doohan can ill afford an acclimatisation period. Whether he can stave off Colapinto taking his spot will be one of the early season stories to keep an eye on.
Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
Nicknamed “le petit Prost” in French media, Hadjar has been handed his F1 opportunity at Red Bull’s sister team at the age of 20.
The Frenchman has a one-year contract and Red Bull’s history – aside from Perez – shows patience is rarely afforded to their drivers, no matter the age.
He impressed with his F2 runner-up spot last year, despite a nightmare start-line stall with the title on the line at the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Can Hadjar compete with Yuki Tsunoda, who is heading into his fifth season? It remains to be seen whether RB’s car will be competitive enough to challenge for the points.
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
What a rise for the 20-year-old Brazilian.
Bortoleto was heading into his rookie F2 season in 2024 off the back of an F3 title win, and shocked onlookers as he claimed the title with a string of consistent performances, becoming just the second driver to win F3 and then F2 as a rookie.
The other one goes by the name of Oscar Piastri.
It forced Mattia Binotto’s hand at Sauber, soon to be Audi. He swooped for Bortoleto – previously a member of McLaren’s academy – to complete his driver lineup this year alongside Nico Hulkenberg.
One for the future, Bortoleto may well be forced to compete at the back of the pack this year.
