Vesti and Drugovich join Hirakawa and Beganovic for Bahrain practice runs · RaceFans

Frederik Vesti, Mercedes

Four Formula 1 teams will run rookie drivers in the first practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday.

Under revised rules for the 2025 F1 season, each team must give twice as many practice runs as last year to inexperienced drivers, which is defined as those who have started no more than two grands prix.

Mercedes and Aston Martin today confirmed they will run Frederik Vesti and Felipe Drugovich respectively in practice on Friday. Both have previously taken part in practice sessions for those teams.

Four teams have already fulfilled their quota of two practice runs with one of their cars after bringing in new drivers this year. Mercedes has done so with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Sauber with Gabriel Bortoleto, Racing Bulls with Isack Hadjar and Alpine with Jack Doohan.

Two other teams have previously confirmed they will run rookie drivers on Friday. Dino Beganovic will make his debut for Ferrari while Ryo Hirakawa will drive for Haas. Hirakawa, who drove Doohan’s Alpine in first practice at Suzuka last weekend, will complete Haas’s quota of rookie driver appearances.

Teams’ rookie driver practice appearances in 2025

	Car	Event	Practice driver	Event	Practice driver
McLaren	4
	81
Ferrari	16	Bahrain Grand Prix	Dino Beganovic
	44
Red Bull	1
	22/30
Mercedes	12	Australian Grand Prix	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Chinese Grand Prix	Andrea Kimi Antonelli
	63	Bahrain Grand Prix	Frederik Vesti
Aston Martin	14	Bahrain Grand Prix	Felipe Drugovich
	18
Alpine	7	Australian Grand Prix	Jack Doohan	Chinese Grand Prix	Jack Doohan
	10
Haas	31	Spanish Grand Prix	Ryo Hirakawa	Mexican Grand Prix	Ryo Hirakawa
	87	Bahrain Grand Prix	Ryo Hirakawa	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Ryo Hirakawa
Racing Bulls	6	Australian Grand Prix	Isack Hadjar	Chinese Grand Prix	Isack Hadjar
	30/22
Williams	23
	55
Sauber	5	Australian Grand Prix	Gabriel Bortoleto	Chinese Grand Prix	Gabriel Bortoleto
	27