Africa-Press – Mauritius. A full-time Formula 1 drive is what young drivers dream of, but for most of the class of 2025 the Australian Grand Prix was a brutal introduction to the sport.
There are six rookies among the 20 drivers this season, albeit three have already raced in F1 without completing full seasons.
Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman are the new boys and it is fair to say they had mixed fortunes in Melbourne.
The weekend at Albert Park started off hot, sunny and dry, but it was wet, cooler and changeable for the race, which meant they were thrown in at the deep end.
The reality of the challenging sport was put into perspective pretty quickly.
Before the grand prix had begun, Racing Bulls’ Hadjar crashed on the formation lap on his debut.
The 20-year-old Frenchman was utterly distraught and kept his helmet on and his head down while he forlornly made his way back to the pits.
Struggling for words, he told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m just embarrassed and I’m sorry for the team, that’s it.
“It’s not up to me to decide how people think of how good I am, I’m just going to try and come back in China with less silly mistakes.”
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