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Exactly 21 years ago, three drivers, namely Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, and Juan Pablo Montoya, made their F1 debuts at the Australian Grand Prix. Among the three of them, they hold three championship titles and sixty race wins.
It is safe to say that the 2001 season opener at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, brought the sport some of the most legendary talents with Alonso still competing, now with Alpine. After two intense decades of racing, Raikkonen officially retired from the sport post the final race in Abu Dhabi last year. Alonso is now likely to break the Iceman's record for most grand prix starts – at 349.
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These rookies oozed ambition and went on to carve a place for themselves in the history of the sport. Fernando Alonso went on to win two consecutive championship titles for Renault in 2005 and 2006. Kimi Raikkonen, on the other hand, became the last driver as of now to win a world championship title with Ferrari, earning the laurel in 2007.
Juan Pablo Montoya would also go on to battle it out with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. He would come close to a championship win twice, with P3 finishes in the drivers' standings in 2002 and 2003.
2022 will see Guanyu Zhou make his debut with Alfa Romeo. Given Nikita Mazepin's departure from Haas, Pietro Fittipaldi is rumored to be taking his seat in the team, making him the second rookie in the upcoming season.
McLaren team boss on preparing F1 car test program for rookies in 2022
McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently revealed that the team is preparing a car test program for rookies such as IndyCar star Patricio O'Ward.
As reported by Motorsport, Brown commented on the rookie program for this season, saying:
“In F1, for the first time in a while, because of the big rule change, you’re allowed to test last year’s car. So we want to have a test program like we used to have in the past. We have to put someone in for two [free practices on GP race weekends] by the F1 rules, but we haven’t decided who to put in. But he’s [Patricio O'Ward] certainly a candidate.”
With Lando Norris' new four-year contract with McLaren and the team's vocal intent to stick with Daniel Ricciardo, it can be safely assumed, however, that the team is not looking to change the driver line-up anytime soon.
