The number of rookie driver sessions in Formula 1 has doubled from two to four in 2025, offering others more of an opportunity to take in Formula 1 machinery.
Verstappen will make way for Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa in FP1 on Friday, which will be the Japanese driver’s Red Bull debut on a race weekend.
The 23-year-old has previously driven for Racing Bulls in FP1 at Suzuka and Abu Dhabi last season, as well as in post-season testing, and Iwasa currently leads the Super Formula standings for Team Mugen in Japan.
Elsewhere, Aston Martin have confirmed reserve driver Felipe Drugovich will be back behind the wheel in FP1, replacing Fernando Alonso for the session.
Over at Williams, junior driver Luke Browning will be stepping in for Carlos Sainz on Friday, with the Briton having taken a podium in the opening sprint race in Formula 2 in Melbourne.
Mercedes reserve Frederik Vesti will take over for George Russell, as the junior programme graduate shares his Formula 1 reserve duties with competing in the IMSA series in 2025.
At Haas, new reserve signing Ryo Hirakawa will be taking in his first practice session for his new team, after doing so for Alpine last weekend at Suzuka – taking Ollie Bearman’s place this time around.
Ferrari will also be making a driver change, with junior driver Dino Beganovic stepping in for Charles Leclerc around Bahrain.
With several teams having rookie drivers on their books this season, the rule of having two or fewer race starts in Formula 1 for it to apply as a rookie session mean that multiple full-time drivers will have counted towards teams’ obligations to run mandated FP1 sessions so far this season.
This is true in the case of Jack Doohan at Alpine, Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber and Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls, meaning their appearances in FP1 in Melbourne and China count towards the total rookie sessions.
Their teams are able to run rookies more than four times if they so choose, but those four teams are partway to their requirements already – with Mercedes opting to run Vesti as a third rookie session of the season in Bahrain.
