2023: Where are the rookies at?

Formula 1 is a jungle, where establishing oneself as a newcomer is not an easy task. One thing is certain, the greatest drivers have largely been excellent rookies. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, for example, both made a big impression in their first seasons. The German driver achieved three podiums in his first four Grand Prix races, and then went on to win at Spa in 1992 (although he only competed in the last six races of 1991). The British driver, on the other hand, had four victories as a rookie and finished second in the world championship, just one point behind the winner, Räikkönen.

But not everyone has the talent or destiny of these immense champions and obviously not the chance to drive the best car. And very often, newcomers struggle to stand out. If in recent years Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris or to a lesser extent Alexander Albon have managed to establish themselves, there are many examples of drivers who have not been able to stabilize in the long term. Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin for example, only lasted one or two seasons.

This year saw a batch of three new drivers, while last season only Zhou Guanyu was a rookie. American driver Logan Sargeant, who finished fourth in the Formula 2 championship in 2022, has joined Williams. Nyck de Vries has secured a seat at AlphaTauri after impressing at the Italian GP last year as a replacement for Alex Albon (Williams). Finally, Australian prodigy Oscar Piastri, the Formula Renault Eurocup champion in 2019 and F3 and F2 champion in the following years, has arrived at McLaren.

de Vries, 10 races and then he’s gone

After the first half of the season, the rookies have already lost a member along the way. The unlucky Nyck de Vries, who suffered under Helmut Marko’s strict rule, has been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri for the remainder of the season. With zero points scored and a heavily unfavorable competition against his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the F2 champion was let go by Red Bull, who preferred to install the experienced Ricciardo in his place.

Now remain Sargeant and Piastri. At 22 years old, both of them are experiencing quite different fortunes this season. The American is learning, but remains stuck at the bottom of the standings, both in qualifying and in the race. Two Q2s and no Q3, but most importantly, no points scored in the World Championship. While Sargeant obviously doesn’t have the best car on the grid, the Williams has a good top speed and is regularly pushed further in qualifying and closer to the points, even ending up in the top 10, by his teammate Alexander Albon. Nothing incomprehensible or alarming for the Floridian, who recently achieved his best results with a 13th place in Austria and an 11th place at Silverstone.

But on his side, Oscar Piastri is going a bit faster. Considered as the next big prodigy and awaited by many in F1 in recent years, he has been getting closer to the top in recent weeks. He, who was part of the Alpine team until last year, joined Lando Norris (23 years old) to form a young but talented duo at McLaren.

Piastri, a golden destiny?

In the same vein as its team, its start was rather timid, but after the modifications made to the MCL60, the Orange team bounced back and the rookie driver secured three consecutive top 5 positions in qualifying in the last three Grand Prix races, as well as a 4th and 5th place finish in the races at Silverstone and the Hungaroring. With its resurgence, the Woking team is comfortably settled in fifth place in the constructors’ championship, ahead of Alpine.

Piastri is making an impression. He is satisfying his leaders and his appetite for success is growing. The Melbourne native even treated himself to his first laps at the front in Formula 1 on the Spa sprint last weekend. Starting second on Saturday, he took advantage of Verstappen’s demotion to start from fifth place the next day. Apart from the Grand Prix where he had to retire after a contact on the first lap, he outperformed Norris throughout the weekend.

What a reason to rub their hands for McLaren, who undoubtedly have two men who will bring in a significant amount of points in the second half of the season.