“And then you’ve got a team-mate that every time you think ‘That was a good lap,’ you look up at the screen, and you go: ‘I’m still 1.5sec off, 1sec, 0.5sec’ whatever it may be – that is going to be the difficult thing for them.
“Some people can deal with it, some can’t – but they’re in the right teams.”
Motor Sport’s grand prix editor Mark Hughes highlighted the momentum that can often make or break a young rookie in F1.
“There’s a sort of spiral in energy with young drivers,” he says. “If it’s going upwards, you can ride the wave and create good performances, because if you’re on that wave, it creates more. But it can spiral downwards as well – and that’s the tricky bit.
“If you look at Oscar, he’s riding that wave – but he’s going to be measured against Lando [Norris] who’s operating at that absolute elite level.
“With Nyck, the big thing is grabbing opportunities when they’re thrown in front of you, and he did a brilliant job of standing in for Alex [Albon] at Monza and that created this opportunity.
“Yuki Tsunoda’s reputation is not that high, but I think last year he was beginning to operate at a pretty good, consistent level. Gasly didn’t annihilate him last year, it was quite close on performance between the two. It’s not necessarily [going to be] easy.”
Schumacher found himself axed after only two points finishes in 2022
Haas
Herbert points to a recent example of a rookie who has found themselves under intense pressure – ultimately costing them their seat.
