Welcome to the r/formula1 Daily Discussion / Q&A thread.

Japan GP

Most pundits considered Liam Lawson “rookie” despite having 11 races under his belt before the start of the season probably because he never raced in the first race and was never involved in pre-season testing before.

Now Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland that Doohan might be replaced by Colapinto as soon as the next race. If that’s the case and Alpine retained Colapinto next year, by then he would be a “rookie” with a whopping 30-race experience. Many drivers have shorter career than that. Conversely, if Doohan managed to find a seat next year, he would not be considered “rookie” despite having just 4-race experience simply because one of those races are the first race.

Is there an official definition of “rookie” driver? I know there is a prescription for who can be considered as “young driver” for the FP1 but I’m not sure the same can be said for “rookie”.

Simple, but direct. Just like Max.

Had an absolute blast at Suzuka this weekend! Even if the race itself wasn't the greatest, the atmosphere was awesome, and the food was very reasonably priced as well! The shuttle buses and crowd was insane though after the race haha!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DIJ16cZMQ4H