Meet Formula 1’s biggest rookie intake in years. Some already are targeting the podium

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was hiding once in a pile of tires to reach safety and in the Formula 1 field. Now, the 18 -year -old Italian was the successor of Luis Hamilton in Mercedes.
Antonelli has been among the largest amount of new drivers in F1 years, as the major teams have put some confidence in the youth. Six of the twenty drivers on the 2025 network started their first full seasons in F1. Some can compete for victories. Others already risk the F1 seat loss.
The talented Formula 2 field was unexpected last season at a time when some F1 teams were keen to move from older drivers such as Sergio Perez and Valtere Potas. In 2025, the switch gives the teams an opportunity to allow young people to gain experience before the F1 car design rules for 2026.
Here is a look at the rising category:
Andrea Kimi Antonelle
Entering seven times champion shoes in Mercedes puts the spotlight on Antonelle, who is scheduled to become the third F1 driver ever. The Italian wants to be known as the “next Mercedes driver” because of Hamilton’s legacy. It was the first time that Antonelli visited the F1 field at the age of eight in 2014 when his father Marco – who managed a team in a support series – hidden in a group of tires under an umbrella to overcome security and in the German Grand Prix. “This was a really great experience,” he said last month. Antonley got an excellent record in the Junior series and won sixth place in F2 last year, but her heavy crashes in Mercedes practical practice in Monza in August was a difficult introduction in F1.
Liam Lawson

The Red Bull driver is the strange man in this list because he has participated in the 11 F1 race since 2023, although a full season. He says he will feel “more like rising people” at the beginning of the season on the paths he had not ran before. The Partnership of the Champion of four times Max Versaben as an alternative to Perez is an arduous task for Lwson, who brought Versaben to qualify in his third race only in the F1 race in Singapore in 2023. New Zealand needs to justify Red Bulls’ decision to rise in their race in 2024-former Smile in the Yuki Tsunoda, in which Six stands out Lawson.
Oliver Berman

Less than a year has passed since Bearman’s outbreak of the scene of the accident in F1, with the completion of the seventh place in Ferrari, Saudi Arabia, while Carlos Sinz Junior was marginalized by surgery. It was not ran before in Jeddah and was racing with two days notice. Berman defeated his experienced colleague Niko Holkenberg in two Haas race later that year and is now a full -time HAAS driver for 2025. Bearman is still part of the novice Ferrari program, but the displacement of ordinary Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclec is unlikely any time soon.
Jack Duhan

The son of the legendary world champion Mick Duhanan enters his profession in F1 at a threat as soon as it started. Alpine’s decision to sign former Williams driver Franco Kulapinto as a reserve means that a possible replacement is available if Duhan does not like the management of the team. “You will always have pressure on your shoulders because you are in such a cut sport,” Douuhan said. The Australian driver ranked third in F2 in 2023, but he did not race at all last year until a sudden entrance to the Abu Dhabi Grand race at the end of the season. In 15th, he was far from the pace of his teammate Pierre Jasli in seventh place.
Isack Hadjar

Leave Lawson’s promotion to Red Bull opening in his second team, and the brand is now renamed for the race, in Hadjar runner -up F2. The French driver arrives at a team with a history of changing drivers in the middle of the season if they do not perform. Even Daniel Ricardo, the Grand Prix eight times, did not last a year there in 2024.
Gabriel Portolo

Although he won the F2 title last season, he defeated Hadjar, Antonelli and Bearman, but the arrival of Portolo to F1 was overwhelmed by his former competitors. Partially, because its new team, Supi, struggled last year and distinguishes time before the full brand was renamed such as Audi Works in 2026. With a helmet design, he praised the three -time champion Aarton Cena, Portolito is the first Brazilian driver in F1 since 2017.