The 2001 Australian GP saw the Formula 1 debuts of Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Enrique Bernoldi, but will we look back on the Friday of this year’s Mexico GP in a similar fashion?
FP1 saw the maiden outings for three drivers who represent the futures of the three top teams. Isack Hadjar of Red Bull, Oliver Bearman of Ferrari and Frederik Vesti of Mercedes all made their F1 practice debuts in the Mexico GP FP1 session, but they weren't the only youngsters on track, as fellow F2 racers Alpine's Jack Doohan and Alfa Romeo's Theo Pourchaire had already enjoyed previous practice outings.
'Obviously, the first run – just the power itself in the straight line was crazy. The acceleration, the braking was just too much, and I had to first get confident just with this and then try and work on my driving and improve.' Some anti-stall issues hampered him at the start, but he soon got into the groove. 'With so much going on with all the procedures and the traffic, it was overwhelming,' he said of the early laps.