Kimi Antonelli will miss first practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix as Mercedes fulfiil one of their mandatory rookie driver sessions.

Antonelli, who leads the world championship by 45 points after 10 rounds, will step aside for Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti at the Hungaroring.

F1 teams are mandated to run a rookie twice in each car over the course of the season and usually opt for a normal race weekend – with three practice sessions – at a well-known circuit to give their youngsters a chance.

As such, four other teams will also use FP1 on Friday to run a rookie, with F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli replacing Oscar Piastri at McLaren.

Another notable rookie is former IndyCar star Colton Herta, a test driver at Cadillac, replacing Valtteri Bottas on Friday.

At Alpine, Paul Aron will replace Franco Colapinto while Ryo Hirakawa will be in Ollie Bearman’s car.

Antonelli extended his lead in the world championship after winning his sixth grand prix of the season last time out in Belgium, while teammate George Russell crashed out.

Lewis Hamilton is now Antonelli’s closest contender and is a seven-time winner in Budapest. Ferrari are also expected to run quickly this weekend, given their proficiency in the corners.

Hungary is the final round before the customary F1 summer break.