There has been plenty of movement up and down the Formula 1 grid for the 2015 season.
Several fresh faces will debut at the Albert Park Circuit in Australia. Here is a look at this year’s F1 rookies.
Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr and Felipe Nasr will all compete in their first F1 race in Melbourne. Toro Rosso has gone for an all-rookie line-up for 2015. Verstappen – son of ex-F1 racer Jos – will become the sport’s youngest ever driver when he takes to the track in Australia at the age of just 17.
Much has been said about Red Bull’s decision to promote the youngster to a seat at its sister team, particularly as he only has one season of single-seater experience under his belt. But, is he ready for the big time?
Following success in karting, which saw him win the KZ1 World Cup in 2013, the Dutch driver made the move up to single-seater racing for the 2014 season. The leap straight from karts to the European Formula 3 Championship was a big one, but he handled it well and impressed from the very start.
Driving for Van Amersfoort Racing, he won 10 races and scored six further podiums, ending his the year third in the standings. His clear potential caught the attention of Red Bull, and he joined its junior team in August 2014. Just a short while later he was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver for 2015, before completing several FP1 outings for the team, performing well despite his inexperience.
Many have criticised the decision to promote Verstappen to F1 at such a young age, but Red Bull certainly has faith in his talent, and that says enough, doesn’t it? The Austrian drinks giant knows what it is doing. There is no doubt that Verstappen is quick, although he doesn’t have as much experience racing wheel-to-wheel compared to the other rookies on the 2015 grid. But, if you have the talent, then age doesn’t and shouldn’t matter.
It will be interesting to see how he gets on and compares to his team-mate Sainz Jr, who is another of 2015’s rookie drivers. The Spaniard, son of two-time WRC champion Carlos Sainz, was promoted to a Toro Rosso seat after Daniil Kvyat moved up to Red Bull.
After a successful start in karting, he joined Red Bull’s junior team and made his single-seater debut in Formula BMW Europe. He finished fourth overall, taking one race victory and standing on the podium on four other occasions. He won two races in Formula BMW Pacific, as well as competing in a few Formula Renault 2.0 and European F3 Open races.
2011 saw Sainz Jr make the step up to Formula Renault 2.0 full-time, driving in the Europcup and NEC championships for Koiranen. He finished the former in the runner-up spot, winning two races, and took the NEC title after scoring an impressive eight victories.
A move to Formula 3 followed, as he continued to progress up the motorsport ladder. He competed in the British and Euro Series championships, as well as European Formula 3. Driving for Carlin, he finished sixth, ninth and fifth respectively, winning six races over the course of the year.
He progressed to GP3 for the 2013 season, driving for MW Arden. Despite showing flashes of brilliance, scoring two podiums, he failed to make much of an impact and could only manage 10th in the standings. It was a tough year and the pressure was on to bounce back in 2014.
Sainz Jr did just that, driving in his first full season in Formula Renault 3.5 for DAMS – after competing in nine races for Zeta Corse in 2013. He scored seven victories and took the title by 35 points. He suffered a few poor race weekends, but when he won, he was dominant and impressed immensely. It was just the boost that he needed.
The 20-year-old clearly has potential and showed great maturity during his FR3.5 title fight. Toro Rosso is the perfect place for both Sainz Jr and Verstappen to learn and develop as Formula 1 drivers, and it should – hopefully – be a closely matched fight.
Nasr was reserve driver at Williams in 2014, but with the team retaining Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas for this year, he was forced to look elsewhere for an opening on the 2015 grid. He found one at Sauber and was announced as a race driver in November.
Despite some labelling him as a "pay driver", Nasr has certainly proved his talent during his journey to F1. He started his career karting in Brazil, before scoring a podium on his first ever single-seater race weekend in the 2008 Formula BMW Americas finale at the Interlagos circuit.
A move to Europe saw him win the Formula BMW Europe title in 2009. Driving for Raikkonen Robertson Racing, Nasr then finished fourth in his debut British Formula 3 season, after a varied campaign. He remained in the series and beat Kevin Magnussen to the 2011 title, winning seven races for Carlin and finishing as runner-up in the Macau Grand Prix.
2012 saw the Brazilian move up to GP2 with DAMS. An inconsistent season saw him show flashes of speed, finishing on the podium four times and ending the year 10th overall. He then spent two years at Carlin and, despite failing to win a race, placed fourth in 2013.
Last year saw Nasr finally stand on the top step of the GP2 podium. Alongside his Williams reserve driver duties, he proved to be a title contender from the very start of the season, winning four races and scoring six other podiums. He finished third in the championship.
Nasr will now make his F1 debut for Sauber alongside Marcus Ericsson. Whilst he has impressed consistently throughout his time competing in feeder categories, he does bring welcome sponsorship to the Swiss outfit.
Will Stevens technically isn’t a rookie, having raced once for Caterham at the 2014 finale in Abu Dhabi. However, he is still a relatively fresh face on the 2015 grid, having been confirmed as one of Manor Marussia’s two drivers.
The Brit has had a varied career racing in junior categories, starting out in Formula Renault 2.0. He finished eighth in both the UK and Portugal 2008 winter championships and ended 2009 seventh in the full UK series, before progressing to fourth in 2010.
A switch to the Eurocup category saw him finish fourth in 2011 and he moved up to Formula Renault 3.5 for the following season. He scored one podium with Carlin, placing 12th in the standings. For the last two years, he has raced in the championship for Strakka Racing, finishing fourth and sixth respectively, after decent but far from spectacular campaigns.
Stevens joined Caterham’s driver academy mid-way through 2013, but left during the 2014 season. Last October it was announced that he had switched to Marussia as its reserve driver, just before the team entered administration. He returned to Caterham for the 2014 finale, finishing 17th after putting in a solid performance.
UPDATE: Manor Marussia announced its second driver for the "opening rounds of the 2015 season", confirming Roberto Merhi. The Spaniard challenged Sainz Jr for the FR3.5 title last year, finishing third overall. He completed several first practice outings for Caterham in 2014 as well.
Which of the 2015 rookies are you most excited to see debut in F1? Let me know on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
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| © Octane Photographic |
Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr and Felipe Nasr will all compete in their first F1 race in Melbourne. Toro Rosso has gone for an all-rookie line-up for 2015. Verstappen – son of ex-F1 racer Jos – will become the sport’s youngest ever driver when he takes to the track in Australia at the age of just 17.
Much has been said about Red Bull’s decision to promote the youngster to a seat at its sister team, particularly as he only has one season of single-seater experience under his belt. But, is he ready for the big time?
 |
| © Octane Photographic |
Following success in karting, which saw him win the KZ1 World Cup in 2013, the Dutch driver made the move up to single-seater racing for the 2014 season. The leap straight from karts to the European Formula 3 Championship was a big one, but he handled it well and impressed from the very start.
Driving for Van Amersfoort Racing, he won 10 races and scored six further podiums, ending his the year third in the standings. His clear potential caught the attention of Red Bull, and he joined its junior team in August 2014. Just a short while later he was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver for 2015, before completing several FP1 outings for the team, performing well despite his inexperience.
Many have criticised the decision to promote Verstappen to F1 at such a young age, but Red Bull certainly has faith in his talent, and that says enough, doesn’t it? The Austrian drinks giant knows what it is doing. There is no doubt that Verstappen is quick, although he doesn’t have as much experience racing wheel-to-wheel compared to the other rookies on the 2015 grid. But, if you have the talent, then age doesn’t and shouldn’t matter.
It will be interesting to see how he gets on and compares to his team-mate Sainz Jr, who is another of 2015’s rookie drivers. The Spaniard, son of two-time WRC champion Carlos Sainz, was promoted to a Toro Rosso seat after Daniil Kvyat moved up to Red Bull.
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| © Octane Photographic |
After a successful start in karting, he joined Red Bull’s junior team and made his single-seater debut in Formula BMW Europe. He finished fourth overall, taking one race victory and standing on the podium on four other occasions. He won two races in Formula BMW Pacific, as well as competing in a few Formula Renault 2.0 and European F3 Open races.
2011 saw Sainz Jr make the step up to Formula Renault 2.0 full-time, driving in the Europcup and NEC championships for Koiranen. He finished the former in the runner-up spot, winning two races, and took the NEC title after scoring an impressive eight victories.
A move to Formula 3 followed, as he continued to progress up the motorsport ladder. He competed in the British and Euro Series championships, as well as European Formula 3. Driving for Carlin, he finished sixth, ninth and fifth respectively, winning six races over the course of the year.
He progressed to GP3 for the 2013 season, driving for MW Arden. Despite showing flashes of brilliance, scoring two podiums, he failed to make much of an impact and could only manage 10th in the standings. It was a tough year and the pressure was on to bounce back in 2014.
Sainz Jr did just that, driving in his first full season in Formula Renault 3.5 for DAMS – after competing in nine races for Zeta Corse in 2013. He scored seven victories and took the title by 35 points. He suffered a few poor race weekends, but when he won, he was dominant and impressed immensely. It was just the boost that he needed.
The 20-year-old clearly has potential and showed great maturity during his FR3.5 title fight. Toro Rosso is the perfect place for both Sainz Jr and Verstappen to learn and develop as Formula 1 drivers, and it should – hopefully – be a closely matched fight.
 |
| © Octane Photographic |
Nasr was reserve driver at Williams in 2014, but with the team retaining Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas for this year, he was forced to look elsewhere for an opening on the 2015 grid. He found one at Sauber and was announced as a race driver in November.
Despite some labelling him as a "pay driver", Nasr has certainly proved his talent during his journey to F1. He started his career karting in Brazil, before scoring a podium on his first ever single-seater race weekend in the 2008 Formula BMW Americas finale at the Interlagos circuit.
A move to Europe saw him win the Formula BMW Europe title in 2009. Driving for Raikkonen Robertson Racing, Nasr then finished fourth in his debut British Formula 3 season, after a varied campaign. He remained in the series and beat Kevin Magnussen to the 2011 title, winning seven races for Carlin and finishing as runner-up in the Macau Grand Prix.
2012 saw the Brazilian move up to GP2 with DAMS. An inconsistent season saw him show flashes of speed, finishing on the podium four times and ending the year 10th overall. He then spent two years at Carlin and, despite failing to win a race, placed fourth in 2013.
Last year saw Nasr finally stand on the top step of the GP2 podium. Alongside his Williams reserve driver duties, he proved to be a title contender from the very start of the season, winning four races and scoring six other podiums. He finished third in the championship.
Nasr will now make his F1 debut for Sauber alongside Marcus Ericsson. Whilst he has impressed consistently throughout his time competing in feeder categories, he does bring welcome sponsorship to the Swiss outfit.
Will Stevens technically isn’t a rookie, having raced once for Caterham at the 2014 finale in Abu Dhabi. However, he is still a relatively fresh face on the 2015 grid, having been confirmed as one of Manor Marussia’s two drivers.
 |
| © Octane Photographic |
The Brit has had a varied career racing in junior categories, starting out in Formula Renault 2.0. He finished eighth in both the UK and Portugal 2008 winter championships and ended 2009 seventh in the full UK series, before progressing to fourth in 2010.
A switch to the Eurocup category saw him finish fourth in 2011 and he moved up to Formula Renault 3.5 for the following season. He scored one podium with Carlin, placing 12th in the standings. For the last two years, he has raced in the championship for Strakka Racing, finishing fourth and sixth respectively, after decent but far from spectacular campaigns.
Stevens joined Caterham’s driver academy mid-way through 2013, but left during the 2014 season. Last October it was announced that he had switched to Marussia as its reserve driver, just before the team entered administration. He returned to Caterham for the 2014 finale, finishing 17th after putting in a solid performance.
UPDATE: Manor Marussia announced its second driver for the "opening rounds of the 2015 season", confirming Roberto Merhi. The Spaniard challenged Sainz Jr for the FR3.5 title last year, finishing third overall. He completed several first practice outings for Caterham in 2014 as well.
Which of the 2015 rookies are you most excited to see debut in F1? Let me know on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
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