Where are they now? The last 20 drivers to make their F1 debuts

Oliver Bearman

Our most recent debut driver — aside from Franco Colapinto — came in 2024. Oliver Bearman substituted for Carlos Sainz Jr. when the Spaniard had an appendectomy ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Bearman will be on the F1 grid full time in 2025, when he’ll join Esteban Ocon at Haas. In the meantime, he’ll be wrapping up the 2024 Formula 2 season with PREMA and we’re also set to see him step in for the banned Kevin Magnussen at Baku – giving us another glimpse of what’s to come.

Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson’s brief Formula 1 stint encompassed five races, beginning with the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix when he subbed in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo.

Dr. Helmut Marko has made it clear that he hopes Lawson will find a seat in F1, though the young driver has served as a Red Bull Racing reserve driver this year. Seats have filled up fast for 2025…but there is still a space at VCARB.

Oscar Piastri

McLaren took a risk signing Oscar Piastri, a rookie driver who was formerly part of the Alpine junior driver program, to begin competing in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Since then, however, Piastri has proven to be an extremely competent and level-headed racer, having taken his first victory in Hungary this year. He’s signed with McLaren until the end of the 2026 season.

Logan Sargeant

American racer Logan Sargeant stood for the hopes of an underrepresented country when he joined Williams at the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season — but that hope didn’t last long. After scoring a single point in 2023, his performances declined throughout 2024, and Williams dropped Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix.

As for his future plans, well — Sargeant has kept mum about them so far, but a move to IndyCar looks most likely.

Nyck de Vries

Though we remember Nyck de Vries for his unfortunate partial season with AlphaTauri in 2023, he actually made his F1 debut at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, when he served as a substitute for an appedicitis-ridden Alex Albon. Sadly, he couldn’t replicate his points-paying Williams finish at AlphaTauri, and he was fired partway through 2023.

In 2024, de Vries returned to Formula E, the series where he won a championship prior to his F1 debut, while also competing in select Super Formula events and joining the Toyota Gazoo Racing team in the World Endurance Championship. He and his team took a victory in Imola.

Zhou Guanyu

Zhou Guanyu made history in 2022 when, by starting the Bahrain Grand Prix, he became the first Chinese driver to contest a Formula 1 Grand Prix. He has remained with Kick Sauber — initially known as Alfa Romeo — through to this year, but his future in F1 is in doubt as he has failed to score a point this year.

Nikita Mazepin

Russian racer Nikita Mazepin joined the Haas Formula 1 team for the 2021 season, thanks largely to the Uralkali sponsorship his father brought to the American team.

Mazepin failed to make much of an impression in his rookie season, and following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the driver was sanctioned by the European Union and subsequently dropped from Haas.

Most recently, he has been competing in the Asian Le Mans Series with 99 Racing in the LMP2 class, taking two wins and one second-place finish.

Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher raced with the Haas F1 team in both 2021 and 2022, but a lack of performance and conflict within the team saw him depart Formula 1 after the conclusion of his second full season.

Schumacher was in competition with Jack Doohan for an Alpine seat for 2025 — a seat that Doohan was ultimately rewarded. Now, Schumacher’s focus has largely been in sportscar racing with the Alpine Endurance Team in the WEC – but he is Mercedes’ reserve driver too.

Yuki Tsunoda

Japanese racer Yuki Tsunoda made his Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri — now known as VCARB — back at the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he finished ninth and scored his first ever points in F1. Tsunoda has remained with the team ever since and has been awarded a contract extension that will see him through 2025.

Pietro Fittipaldi

Grandson of two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi, Pietro only had two starts with the Haas Formula 1 team back in 2020, at the Sakhir and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. He was filling in for an injured Romain Grosjean.

Fittipaldi now serves as a reserve driver for Haas, though he also competes in the IndyCar series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. His performance this year has left a lot to be desired; Fittipaldi’s best finish in a points-paying event was 13th.

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Jack Aitken

British-South Korean racer Jack Aitken made exactly one Formula 1 start at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. He joined Williams after George Russell was offered a one-off race in a Mercedes, as Lewis Hamilton withdrew from the race with COVID-19. He finished 16th.

Aitken has since moved on to sports car and endurance car racing. In 2024, he’s competing for Emil Frey Racing in DTM, where he’s taken two wins. In IMSA, Aitken joined the Whelen Engineering Cadillac team, where he’s taken three second-place finishes.

Nicholas Latifi

Nicholas Latifi debuted at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic and raced for Williams for three years. However, after failing to score a single point, Latifi was dropped by Williams.

Rather than continue racing, Latifi has since gone on to pursue an MBA in business from the London Business School.

George Russell

George Russell’s F1 debut came with Williams at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Though his finishes with Williams weren’t the best, Russell impressed during qualifying, where he earned the nickname “Mr. Saturday” and, eventually, a seat at Mercedes.

It’s with Mercedes where Russell has remained, taking his first victory at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and his second in Austria this season.

Alexander Albon

Alex Albon, too, remains in Formula 1 after debuting back at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, but his path in the sport has been a complex one.

Albon joined Toro Rosso at the start of 2019 but was promoted to Red Bull Racing just before the Belgian Grand Prix. Despite a decent 2020, Red Bull axed Albon, and he spent a year unemployed before being signed by Williams. He’s been with Williams ever since.

Lando Norris

Lando Norris has been one of McLaren’s mainstays, having joined the team back at the beginning of the 2019 season. In these last five-and-a-half years, Norris and McLaren have grown into formidable title contenders, with the British driver taking his first victory in Miami this year. He’ll be here for a while longer, too, as he signed a multi-year contract extension at the start of 2024.

Sergey Sirotkin

Russian racer Sergey Sirotkin competed with the Williams team during the 2018 Formula 1 season, during which time he only scored a single point. For two years after, he remained as a reserve driver for both McLaren and Renault.

In 2023, Sirotkin signed with SMP Racing to compete in endurance categories, with his most recent entry coming in the Middle East Trophy series.

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc debuted in Formula 1 with Alfa Romeo back in 2018 before being promoted to Ferrari the following year. His first two wins came during his first year with Ferrari, when he took both the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix. His best finish in the championship thus far was a second place in 2022.

In 2024, Leclerc made history by winning his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as the Italian Grand Prix — the home race of his Ferrari team.

Brendon Hartley

Brendon Hartley seemed to have been passed over for a Formula seat by Red Bull until, ahead of the 2017 US Grand Prix, Toro Rosso came calling. The team was in organizational shambles, as Carlos Sainz had departed the team for Renault (and was replaced by a returning Daniil Kvyat) while Pierre Gasly had been signed onto the team so quickly that he had other obligations to complete in his Super Formula championship.

Hartley finished out the 2017 season followed by the entire 2018 season, but he was dropped at the end of the year. He headed back to the WEC, where he has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the overall WEC title.

Pierre Gasly

Like Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly’s F1 path has been a bit chaotic. His first start came at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix when he replaced Daniil Kvyat. He remained with the junior team in 2018 before being promoted to Red Bull Racing… for half a season. Gasly was demoted and remained with the team that would become AlphaTauri through 2022 before he moved to Alpine. His best finish was a shock win at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.

Gasly has committed to remaining with Alpine, signing a multi-year deal with the French team that will see him remain there until at least the end of 2026.

Lance Stroll

Though it may not feel like it, Lance Stroll debuted in Formula 1 all the way back in the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, when he competed with the Williams team. And, as we know, Stroll is still on the grid, now racing for Aston Martin.

Stroll will likely remain there, too; his father Lawrence owns Aston Martin and therefore also the F1 team. And, with Lawrence Stroll rumored to be investing in Adrian Newey, it’s not likely he’ll see his son off any time soon.