Oscar Piastri is set to miss the opening practice session of the final round of the season – a weekend which looks increasingly likely to decide the world championship.

McLaren confirmed further details of its rookie practice driver roster today. Pato O’Ward will drive Lando Norris’s car in the opening session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend.

That will complete McLaren’s requirement to use two inexperienced drivers in Norris’s car over the course of the season. However they still need to complete a second run in Piastri’s car.

Abu Dhabi is the likeliest venue for them to choose. The other race weekends are less favourable choices as they are either sprint race events which offer only a single hour of practice (Brazil and Qatar) or take place at street circuits where the possibility of car damage is especially high and track time can be limited due to crashes causing red flags (Las Vegas).

Compared to those, Piastri and McLaren are likely to prefer sacrificing the opening practice session at Yas Marina, as it takes place earlier in the day and typically sees much hotter track conditions than qualifying or the grand prix.

Even so, a championship contender being unable to participate in all sessions during a final-round title decider would be unusual by recent standards. F1 introduced the rules forcing teams to run inexperienced drivers in their cars in 2022 and none of the three championships since then were decided at the final round.

Piastri’s leading championship rivals, Norris and Max Verstappen, will complete their allocation of practice runs for other drivers in Mexico this weekend. Ayumu Iwasa drove Verstappen’s car in Bahrain and Arvid Lindblad will drive it in Mexico, while Alex Dunne took over Norris’s car at the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri only missed first practice at Monza, where Dunne again drove.

With five rounds to go, Piastri leads Norris by 14 points and Verstappen by 40.

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F1 teams’ practice drivers confirmed so far

Team
Car
Event
Practice driver
Event
Practice driver

McLaren
4
Austrian Grand Prix
Alex Dunne
Mexican Grand Prix
Pato O’Ward

81
Italian Grand Prix
Alex Dunne

Ferrari
16
Bahrain Grand Prix
Dino Beganovic
Austrian Grand Prix
Dino Beganovic

44

Red Bull
1
Bahrain Grand Prix
Ayumu Iwasa
Mexican Grand Prix
Arvid Lindblad

22/30
British Grand Prix
Arvid Lindblad

Mercedes
12
Australian Grand Prix
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Chinese Grand Prix
Andrea Kimi Antonelli

63
Bahrain Grand Prix
Frederik Vesti
Mexican Grand Prix
Frederik Vesti

Aston Martin
14
Bahrain Grand Prix
Felipe Drugovich
Hungarian Grand Prix
Felipe Drugovich

18
Mexican Grand Prix
Jak Crawford

Alpine
7*/43
Japanese Grand Prix
Ryo Hirakawa
Italian Grand Prix
Paul Aron

10
Mexican Grand Prix
Paul Aron

Haas
31
Spanish Grand Prix
Ryo Hirakawa
Mexican Grand Prix
Ryo Hirakawa

87
Bahrain Grand Prix
Ryo Hirakawa
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Ryo Hirakawa

Racing Bulls
6
Australian Grand Prix
Isack Hadjar
Chinese Grand Prix
Isack Hadjar

30/22

Williams
23
Spanish Grand Prix
Victor Martins

55
Bahrain Grand Prix
Luke Browning
Mexican Grand Prix
Luke Browning

Sauber
5
Australian Grand Prix
Gabriel Bortoleto
Chinese Grand Prix
Gabriel Bortoleto

27
British Grand Prix
Paul Aron
Hungarian Grand Prix
Paul Aron

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