Oscar Piastri will have to give up his seat at McLaren one more time during the crucial Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi. Pato O’Ward will take his place during FP1.

In 2025, Formula 1 teams are required to hand over each car at least twice a year to a rookie during the first free practice session of a race weekend. Teams that field a rookie as a full time driver do not need to comply with this rule for that particular car.

For example, Mercedes, Racing Bulls, Sauber and Alpine only need to hand over one car twice because they started the season with a driver who was still designated as a rookie under the regulations, which neither Liam Lawson nor Oliver Bearman meet the criteria for. There are still seven teams that must fulfill their obligation to hand over at least one car in FP1.

Red Bull also opts for a different driver in FP1

So, in Abu Dhabi we will see at least seven unfamiliar faces during FP1. The teams that still need to appoint a rookie are McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Racing Bulls, Williams, Ferrari, Haas and Aston Martin.

Recently, GPblog reported that Arvid Lindblad will step in at Red Bull Racing in Abu Dhabi as a replacement for Yuki Tsunoda. At Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson must make way one more time for Ayumu Iwasa.

GPblog has now also learned who will step in at McLaren. There, title contender Oscar Piastri must give up his seat to Pato O’Ward, during the final weekend of the title fight. With a sixteen-point deficit to Lando Norris, Piastri still has a chance at the title.

Lando Norris in Qatar - Photo: RacePictures

Plans at a number of other teams were already known. For instance, Ryo Hirakawa will take Esteban Ocon’s place at Haas, Jak Crawford gets a chance at Aston Martin as a replacement for Lance Stroll, and Luke Browning will step in at Williams.

The last team that still needs to make a change is Ferrari. Earlier this year, Dino Beganovic — a homegrown talent — and Antonio Fuoco were given a chance by Ferrari in an FP1. It is currently unknown as to who will step in, for Abu Dhabi.

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