What to expect from F1's rookie trio in 2021

Three newcomers join the Formula 1 grid in 2021. The shortest pre-season in F1 history will have done little to settle the nerves for Yuki Tsunoda, Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, and the Haas team's admission of focusing everything on 2022 means the latter pair have an uphill climb this term

New faces have arrived in Formula 1 only sparingly over the past few seasons, thanks to tighter superlicence requirements and certain older drivers disobligingly refusing to take their leave. But this year there’s almost a glut of rookies, if three can be considered as such. To some extent, though, this influx isn’t particularly surprising.

One thing that can be relied upon in F1 is that vacancies will eventuate owing to the ruthless up-or-out ethos of Red Bull’s young driver programme; and this season the floundering Haas team has decided its previous line-up amounted to dead wood. Taking the axe to Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, both of whom had arguably had their time in F1, has enabled Haas to forge closer ties with Ferrari and attract new investment in one hit. The three newcomers are therefore all doing a job before turning a wheel in anger.