Rookie drivers replace regular starters for Alpine, Mercedes, Williams and Audi
Gabriele Mini, Frederik Vesti, Luke Browning, and Freddie Slater will step in for regular starters during upcoming sessions. These rookie entries aim to provide critical data for Alpine, Mercedes, Williams, and Audi to support their primary drivers in Mexico and Brazil.
Rookie drivers replace regular starters
Gabriele Mini replaces Franco Colapinto in the Alpine A526 during Free Practice 1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Mini, the former Formula 2 championship leader who currently sits fourth in the standings with a slim title chance, intends to provide data to help Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto score points by the end of the weekend. This appearance marks the third rookie outing for Alpine this season after Paul Aron drove at the Hungaroring and Monza. Mini has been an Alpine protege since the start of the 2023 season following his runner-up campaign in the Formula Regional European Championship. He has also been a runner-up in Formula 3. The driver has been gaining experience through the Alpine Academy for several years and has spent time on the simulator at Enstone to prepare for the current, vastly different machinery. Mini aims to provide enough feedback to set up a successful weekend for both Gasly and Colapinto.
Mercedes will field Frederik Vesti to drive George Russell’s W17. Vesti, the 2023 Formula 2 runner-up, gets his third outing of the season. This follows a difficult session for Russell in Austin where he was at a loss to understand his performance after experiencing "six good laps, 50 bad laps". Vesti, the Dane, expressed his thanks to George for letting him drive the car.
Williams and Audi driver changes
Williams uses Luke Browning to replace Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in Mexico and Brazil. Browning currently sits lowly 13th in his maiden Super Formula campaign. This marks his eighth or ninth career FP1 entry. He is happy to be back in the FW48 and aims to bring data back to Grove to build understanding of the package. Browning will use the experience to push his development and the team forward in the standings.
| Driver | Team | Replacing |
|---|---|---|
| Gabriele Mini | Alpine | Franco Colapinto |
| Frederik Vesti | Mercedes | George Russell |
| Luke Browning | Williams | Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz |
| Freddie Slater | Audi | N/A |
The Audi team will use Freddie Slater to fulfill rookie requirements in Mexico and Brazil after the team loaned Paul Aron to them at Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring. This follows the rule where teams field four rookie entries across the season, with two rookies permitted per car. Drivers like Slater help teams fulfill obligations without pulling primary drivers from the grid.
