All teams are obliged to run a rookie in each car at one FP1 session, and this year they have faced a difficult schedule, with Qatar, Austin and Brazil all sprint events, and Suzuka, Singapore and Las Vegas not regarded as practical choices. Most teams have thus left their FP1 running for Mexico and Abu Dhabi.
In an unusual move, Red Bull is planning to deploy both of its mandatory rookie sessions at the same event, with F2 driver Isack Hadjar also driving at the Yas Marina track.
That choice also means that neither Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez will have to give up their cars at the latter’s home race in Mexico, where the Friday run plan is complicated by the addition of extra tyre testing.
The original intention was for the team to run Liam Lawson, who drove for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi last year. However, as soon as the Kiwi made his third appearance with AlphaTauri in Singapore he lost his rookie status.
The 28-year-old Dennis has been a Red Bull simulator driver since 2018. That year he drove the RB14 in tests in both Spain and Hungary, and the Abu Dhabi the outing will give him the opportunity to correlate with the current car.
Dennis won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 2012. He finished third in the FIA F3 series in 2015, and was fourth in GP3 in 2016.
He then moved into GT racing before his single-seater career was rebooted when he joined the Andretti Formula E team for the 2020-21 campaign, finishing third in in his first season.
Dennis won the 2022-2023 title having logged two wins and nine other podium finishes. His Formula E results have qualified him for an F1 super licence.
Hadjar will also drive for AlphaTauri in FP1 in Mexico before switching to Red Bull for Abu Dhabi, with the Faenza team only needing to deploy one session as Nyck de Vries was a rookie when he drove in the season opener in Bahrain.
The Frenchman was fourth in the 2022 F3 championship and currently lies 14th in the F2 standings, and has been serving as a Red Bull/AlphaTauri reserve when Lawson was not available.
Other drivers lined up for rookie tests in Mexico and/or Abu Dhabi are Jack Doohan (Alpine), Frederick Vesti (Mercedes), Oliver Bearman (Haas), Pato O’Ward (McLaren), Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari), Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin) and Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo).
