Gathered at a round table, four of the six f1 novices cannot control anxiety. With each question asked by host Laura Winter to the category website, the boys cross their answers.
Oliver Bearman, 19, tries to be the first to talk about the realization of his dream, but the Englishman is soon interrupted by Jack Doohan, 22. “Was this not to be in alphabetical order?” Asks the Australian pilot.
Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli, younger among rookies, 18, takes the word and leaves Isack Hadjar, 20, being the first to speak. “Being here is amazing, especially for my family,” said the Franco-Argelino, while the others finally waited in turn to repeat almost the same sentence several times. “It’s a dream”, “yes, a dream”, “childhood dream”.
The quartet forms alongside Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, 20, and New Zealander Liam Lawson, 22, the portrait of the new generation of the main category of world motorsport.
Aged 18 to 22, none of them were born in 2001, when Spanish Fernando Alonso, the most experienced 43 -year -old grid, made his debut.
Together, they represent a 30% renewal compared to grid holders in 2024. The number of newcomers is the largest since 2010, when seven names joined the championship.
With different trajectories until reaching F1, novices caused a significant average age of this season’s 29 -year -old and five months riders at the opening of the 2024 World Cup in Bahrain for 27 years and three months when all align for the Australian GP start at dawn from Saturday (15) to Sunday (16), 1h (from Brasília).
Although it does not arrive near the 2017 Russian GP, which had the lowest average age in F1 history, 26 and nine months old, it is rare for the category to promote such a renewal. In 2024, for example, there was no rookie in the first race.
“This only shows that we have a strong generation,” said Hadjar, who joined Racing Bulls after playing F2 last year. “It’s good to run with guys I already know,” he added.
The Franco-Argeline was runner-up of the F1 access category. The winner of the season was the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who will run for Sauber. He is the first F2 champion to rise immediately to F1 the following year since Mick Schumacher made this way in 2021.
“We all deserve [depois] Of good results in junior series, good test results we did, “said Bortoleto.
The 2022 and 2023 champions, Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire, have not yet been able to make any race in the elite of motorsport.
The Brazilian and the Frenchman suffered from the stagnation of the pilot market between 2023 and 2024, when the F1 had, for the first time in history, the opening grid with the same formation that had closed the previous year. This also caused many pilots to come to the end of their contracts in 2024, opening the possibility for the teams to consider new talents.
The movement was also driven by Mercedes’s surprising Lewis Hamilton change to Ferrari, opening a place in the team whereby English won six of his seven titles.
Kimi Antonelli was chosen to be the replacement of Hamilton, a label he has struggled to get rid of. Instead, it prefers to say that it is the new Mercedes pilot to not have to carry the weight of being compared to the multi -champion.
If the young Italian promise surfed the wave caused by English, Lawson and Hadjar benefited from the difficulties faced by Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo in 2024. Dismissed, respectively, from Red Bull and Racing Bulls, the two opened the space that the New Zealand and the Franco-Argeline managed to fill.
Since the entry of Lando Norris, George Russell and Alex Albon, in 2019, there was not so much excitement in F1 with the new grid riders.
The rejuvenation on the tracks leads to the tracks which has also been seen in its surroundings. Since selling the category to the American Liberty Media group, in 2016, different surveys have shown in recent years a rejuvenation of the F1 public.
Young people of the so -called generation Z have been increasingly interested in the category. A survey by F1 itself in 2021 showed that the racing audience currently has 63% of fans under 34.
Part of this audience became interested in the category after the launch of the Drive To Survive series, in partnership with Netflix. Counting the backstage of the teams and trying to humanize the image of the pilots, the production had its first season in 2019. The seventh journey of the series was released on the 7th.
Along with the production, F1 also devoted itself to social networks, something that the former owner of the category was not an effect. Now teams and pilots can share official images on their pages, expanding the digital presence of the category.
Even before his debut, Gabriel Bortoleto already carries 1 million followers on Instagram, where he has released his routine at Sauber. Veterans Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have, respectively, with 39.1 million and 13.6 million followers on the same social network.
F1 itself encourages teams and pilots to produce original content. According to a study by Nielsen, it is estimated that the category today has 750 million fans around the world.
Therefore, the category is excited with the entry of the six novices. Despite youth and lack of experience, they know they carry a great expectation, especially the public that recognizes themselves in each of them.
X -ray of f1 novices
Some Antonelli
Full name: Andrea Kimi Antonelli
F1 team: Mercedes F1 Team
Age at the debut: 18 years
Nationality: Italiana
Pilot number in 2025: 12
Oliver Bearman
Full Name: Oliver James Bearan
F1 team: Haas F1 Team
Age at the debut: 19 years
Nationality: English
Pilot number in 2025: 87
Gabriel Bortoleto
Full Name: Gabriel Bortoleto Oliveira
Team the F1: Sells Audi
Age in the debut: 20 years
Nationality: Brazilian
Pilot number in 2025: 5
Isack Hadjar
Full Name: Isack Alexandre Hadjar
F1 team: Racing Bulls
Age in the debut: 20 years
Nationality: French
Pilot number in 2025: 6
Jack Doohan
Nome completo: Jack Doohan
F1 team: Alpine F1 Team
Age in the debut: 22 years
Nationality: Australian
Pilot number in 2025: 7
Liam Lawson
Full Name: Liam Lawson
F1 team: Red Bull Racing
Age in the debut: 23 years
Nationality: NeoZelanda
Pilot number in 2025: 30
