How the Brazilian GP was a baptism of fire for rookies

The Brazilian GP’s sometimes near-aquaplaning conditions were a huge challenge for all Formula 1 drivers, but even more so for the most inexperienced ones on the grid.

Among those with fewer than 10 grand prix starts, only Liam Lawson had previous experience in wet racing conditions – from his very first outing at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, which had been a struggle for him.

Qualifying had already been tricky, with many drivers crashing out on a very wet track – both Williams and Aston Martin drivers in various sections, as well as Carlos Sainz, unusually, at the exit of the Senna S.

While both Franco Colapinto, due to his Turn 3 crash, and Oliver Bearman were out in Q1, Lawson put in a remarkable performance to grab fifth on the grid.

In the race Bearman spun when hitting Colapinto from behind on lap four – which he was penalised for – then had a 360-degree pirouette in Turn 7 when chasing Sainz on lap 36, nudging the tyre barrier. Lawson was spun around by Oscar Piastri in Turn 1 on lap 26, while Colapinto crashed out of the race in safety car conditions as the rain got worse.

Their pace was also poorer than their respective team-mates’ when comparable – Albon was unable to start the race due to both Williams cars sustaining damage in qualifying.

“We boxed to put inters on. It was undriveable, I think, the track. We shouldn’t have been driving at that point,” a “very sad” Colapinto said.

“We were, like, 15 seconds off the pace, and we also put hot inters on the car. We tried to keep the temps up, we were pushing, and there was a very big river there before the straight and I lost the car very, very aggressively there. So I was a passenger then.”

Lawson said he’d almost suffered the same fate.

“I nearly crashed the car probably 10 times,” the New Zealander commented. “It was very sketchy, but obviously the most important thing was staying on the track, and fortunately we were able to do that.”

Meanwhile, standing in for an unwell Kevin Magnussen, Bearman was painfully aware his performance had not been up to the expected standard.

“To be the best and to score points today, I needed to stay on track the whole time, and unfortunately, I didn’t do that,” the 2025 Haas driver said. “I made too many mistakes. So yeah, it’s definitely tough conditions, but I still wasn’t good enough today.

“But…