All six F1 rookies were born ahead of Alonso's F1 debut
With six rookie drivers set to make their competitive debut at the pinnacle of motorsport in 2025, all of them were born before two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso had made his debut in Formula One.
The upcoming season will see six rookie drivers make their F1 debut, with Liam Lawson, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman.
Doohan will join the already signed and announced Pierre Gasly to form the team’s driver pairing for next season, becoming the first Alpine Academy prospect to graduate into a race seat with the team.
The 21-year-old Australian – son of the legendary five-time 500cc motorcycling world champion – Mick Doohan – has served as the team’s Reserve Driver for the past two years after a successful junior career in international single-seater racing.
Following the season-closing F1 round at Abu Dhabi, Red Bull Racing confirmed that Liam Lawson will partner four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen in 2025 F1 season.
The New Zealand native joined the Red Bull Junior Programme in 2019 and after multiple junior formula successes made his Formula One debut with Scuderia AlphaTauri at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo.
He scored his first championship points in just his second outing at the Singapore GP and completed five races in all for the team. After taking up his Reserve Driver role with both teams at the start of 2024, Lawson returned to Grand Prix racing with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls with a points-scoring finish at this year’s United States Grand Prix.
Now, after completing the season with VCARB the 22-year-old takes the next step in his career with a seat at Oracle Red Bull Racing.
Audi and Sauber Motorsport AG confirmed at the beginning of November that Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto will complete the team’s 2025 F1 pairing alongside Nico Hülkenberg.
Hailing from São Paulo, Bortoleto began his racing career at the age of six in karting and, by twelve, he had moved to Europe with his family to pursue his Formula One dream.
He made a strong impression upon graduating to FIA Formula 3 in 2023 by dominating his debut season and winning the Championship, before moving to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, where he is leading the standings with just two rounds to go. Joining the future Audi works team now gives Bortoleto the opportunity to show his talent at the highest level of motorsport.
The team, which already confirmed German driver Nico Hülkenberg as part of the team for the upcoming season back in April, will now boast a balanced mix of experience and youth, as it prepares for the transition to the Audi F1 factory team in 2026.
Ahead of last year's British Grand Prix, Haas confirmed that Oliver Bearman will compete for the US-squad on a multi-year contract beginning with the 2025 F1 season.
The 19-year-old Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy member is currently an official reserve driver for the team while contesting the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Prema Racing. The Briton collected his first win of the 2024 campaign last weekend in Austria in the Sprint race to add to his tally of four victories from a stellar rookie season in 2023.
Bearman, in his additional role as reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari, made a memorable Formula 1 debut back in March in Saudi Arabia substituting for the sidelined Carlos Sainz – in doing so becoming the third-youngest racer in Formula 1 history. The then 18-year-old from Chelmsford finished in P7 at his debut.
The Racing Bulls announced after the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Isack Hadjar will join Yuki Tsunoda for the 2025 F1 season, as the team sees another Red Bull Junior Driver step up to into one of the most sought-after seats in motorsport.
The 20-year-old driver has been driving for the Campos Racing team in F2, and finished second in the drivers' standings behind Sauber-bound Gabriel Bortoleto.
Hadjar became AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing's reserve driver after Liam Lawson filled in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at last year's Dutch Grand Prix.
The French driver will be following the footsteps of Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo as he becomes the 19th driver to be promoted to Formula One from the Red Bull Junior Program, which started back in 2001.
On the eve of last year's Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced their 2025 driver line-up, with 18-year-old Italian Kimi Andrea Antonelli joining three-time F1 race winner George Russell behind the wheel for next season.
As part of Formula One's rule that requires every team to run a young driver in a free practice session twice a year, Mercedes elected to provide Antonelli with his first run in an official F1 session on his home turf at Monza. However, the Italian sensation crashed into the barriers at Parabolica only on his second flying lap.
The Bologna-born driver was then handed another opportunity at the Mexican Grand Prix, where he completed a successful second outing with the German marque.
