Meet the F1 rookies: the late bloomer, the top talent and the unexpected American | formula 1

Sometimes you just need a chance. Nyck De Vries (27) can confirm that. Despite titles in Formula 2 and Formula E on his record, the Dutchman had never had a chance at the highest level.

De Vries was also not really on the radar of the F1 teams last season, until an appendicitis kept Alex Albon away from the Italian GP. Williams knocked on the door of Mercedes’ reserve driver and De Vries seized that opportunity with both hands. With a 9th place he immediately gathered points in Monza, no easy task for the tail team.

After his successful F1 debut, the Dutchman immediately entered the showcase of many teams. Williams and Alpine showed interest, but AlphaTauri had the most attractive proposal. Remarkable, because normally Red Bull invariably opts for a youngster from its own talent pool.

Why did it take so long for De Vries to get a chance? With a spot in McLaren’s talent pool, he already seemed to be on the right path towards F1 in 2010. Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne and Lando Norris proved that, who in this way secured an F1 seat at McLaren.

But De Vries’ results were not convincing enough to follow in their footsteps. In his first seasons in F3 and F2 he was never in the top 3 in the final standings. McLaren then already drew its conclusions and cut the tires.

Too early? In 2019, De Vries was finally able to win the F2 title, but that it had taken three seasons and the opposition was not much in his champion year did not speak in his favor. The Dutchman was forced to move to Formula E, where he was crowned world champion in 2021.

His angelic patience will finally be rewarded next season. With quite a bit of experience in the meantime, the 27-year-old De Vries should immediately be able to put his five years younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda to the test at AlphaTauri. Outperforming the Japanese is the only way to prove that he is not just a late bloomer.

Only 21 years old and he is already mentioned in the same breath as Charles Leclerc and George Russell. It shows how high expectations are for Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut.

The Australian is also regarded as one of the greatest talents in motorsport for a reason. His first year in Formula 3: immediately champion. His first year in Formula 2: immediately champion.

Only Leclerc and Russell have previously succeeded in becoming F3 and F2 champions consecutively. And Piastri actually does even better than the stars of Ferrari and Mercedes, because in 2019 he was also crowned champion in the Formula Renault Eurocup, good for three titles in a row.

At Alpine they therefore rubbed their hands that the Australian top talent was on their reserve bench. Only he had to stay there last year, despite his F2 title. Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso barred him from the French constructor.

Not to test Piastri’s patience too much, team boss Otmar Szafnauer sniffed the market for an F1 seat for Piastri in 2023. A year at Williams and then to Alpine in 2024 seemed to be the career path.

Until Fernando Alonso changed that with his surprising move to Aston Martin. Alpine did not hesitate to switch to plan B and hand over the wheel of Alonso to Piastri a year early.

But they came too late. Ex-F1 driver Mark Webber, Piastri’s manager, had already knocked on the door of McLaren, which was looking behind the scenes for a replacement for the disappointing Daniel Ricciardo.

After some tug-of-war between Alpine and McLaren, Piastri can finally focus on his F1 adventure in 2023. In order not to suffer the same fate as predecessors Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne – talents who were quickly pushed aside at McLaren – Piastri will have to show himself alongside Lando Norris, that other top talent. Not an easy task, even for a promise of its caliber.

Formula 1 will race no less than three times in the United States in 2023, so it was high time for an American driver on the starting grid. Although in the end not the biggest contender ended up in an F1 seat.

In the search for a successor to Alexander Rossi, the last American in Formula 1 in 2015, the same name always came up: Colton Herta. As the youngest ever winner of an IndyCar race – at just 18 years old – he is one of the most promising American talents.

And what F1 team wouldn’t be interested in that? Red Bull wanted to put Herta behind the wheel at AlphaTauri, but in the end he didn’t have enough points for his Super license – say the driver’s license for F1. It cleared the way for Nyck de Vries.

Ultimately, Williams was able to fulfill the American dream by giving their youth product Logan Sargeant a chance after barely one year in Formula 2. A surprising choice, because unlike Piastri and De Vries, Sargeant could never win a title in all entry classes.

His strongest performance was his third place in Formula 3 in 2020, 4 points behind overall winner Piastri. A year later he seemed to be the clear title candidate, but with his new team the American only finished 7th.

Still, in his first F2 season, he was able to convince Williams to give him a chance at the highest level: with two wins he finished 4th.

At Williams, which finished last four of the last five seasons, expectations will not be too high for the rookie. He will especially have to pass the comparative test with his predecessor Nicholas Latifi. The Canadian was only able to collect points three times in his three F1 seasons.