2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Free Practice 1 Results

The first Free Practice at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw many rookies jump into the cars, and the results were really interesting, with many showing a lot of promise.

During a season, F1 teams are required to run a young driver in two FP1 sessions, and with every minute behind the wheel being important during the majority of the season, most of the teams fulfill this quota at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Therefore, a total of ten young drivers jumped into the cars of different teams during the first Free Practice session at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. One of the drivers who wasn't a rookie was Mercedes' George Russell, who topped the standings.

The British driver raced around the Yas Marina Circuit in 1:26.072, and it wasn't his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who has been busy debunking rumors about his interest in joining Red Bull ahead of the 2023 season, but rookie Frederik Vesti, who drove Hamilton's car joining the Brit during the Free Practice session.

Vesti placed 12th, and he was certainly one of the better rookies, with the best lap time set by a rookie sitting at 1:26.360 by Aston Martin's Felipe Drugovich, who finished second behind Russell.

It was palpable that Aston Martin may have a strong car in Abu Dhabi as Lance Stroll, one of the experienced drivers in FP1, finished fifth, nearly three-tenths behind the Brazilian, who showed a lot of promise.

Another veteran behind the wheel was Daniel Ricciardo, who completed the virtual podium, placing third in his AlphaTauri with a lap time of 1:26.433, only two hundreds of a second ahead of Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas.

McLaren was another team that ran one rookie during FP1, as Oscar Piastri, who finished sixth, was joined by Patricio O'Ward, who put Lando Norris' McLaren on the 15th spot in the standings.

One of the teams that could be happy with the performance of their rookie was certainly Ferrari. While their A-team driver, Carlos Sainz, finished the first Free Practice seventh, their rookie driver, Robert Shwartzman was right behind him.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly placed ninth in FP1, with Yuki Tsunoda completing the Top 10. Logan Sargeant in Williams put together a lap that saw him 11th in the standings, while the only other F1 driver currently on the grid in 2023, Kevin Magnussen in Haas, finished 19th.

The rest of the leaderboard was filled by rookies. Jack Doohan in Alpine finished 13th, Theo Pourchaire in Alfa Romeo was 15th, while a duo in Red Bull, Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar, finished 16th and 17th.

Zak O'Sullivan in Williams got his F1 experience, finishing the FP1 18th, while Oliver Bearman was 20th. All of the young drivers certainly got plenty of experience from the free practice sessions, and they will all be looking to once get a seat in one of the teams.