History hints at what Ferrari would do if sudden F1 stand-in was needed

Zhou Guanyu and Antonio Giovinazzi have just been announced as Ferrari’s reserve drivers for 2025, but it is unlikely either will ever drive for the F1 team.

Reserve drivers are a crucial member of an F1 team. They typically carry out simulator work to assist the race team during grand prix weekends and perform selected testing duties over the course of the year.

Importantly, they are ready to stand in as a back up option for a team if one of their regular drivers cannot race. This is not as rare an occurrence as it may seem, as several instances in recent seasons have proved.

On Wednesday Sauber outcast Zhou was confirmed as one of two reserve drivers for Ferrari, but that does not necessarily mean either will ever actually race in the iconic red overalls.

Zhou has effectively replaced Oliver Bearman as Ferrari’s reserve driver for 2025 after the Briton secured a full-time seat with Haas.

While Bearman is no longer an official Ferrari reserve driver, it is likely they would turn to him if they required a sudden stand-in for either Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc.

After all, Bearman already has experience doing exactly that when he was called up in Saudi Arabia last year as an emergency replacement for Carlos Sainz, who had appendicitis.

At just 18 years old, Bearman became the youngest Briton to start an F1 race. He qualified 11th and went on to finish seventh ahead of seven-time world champion Hamilton. 

Bearman also scored points for Haas in another super sub cameo for Haas in Azerbaijan when Kevin Magnussen was serving a race ban.

Given Ferrari already know what Bearman can do, and he is viewed as a future star for the team, one would think he would be the preferred choice. Haas would likely oblige given their close technical collaboration with Ferrari (and the fact Bearman is effectively on loan to the team as a result).

In such a scenario, Ferrari would make Zhou or Giovinazzi available to Haas, who could also call upon the services of Magnussen - providing he doesn’t have clashing sportscar commitments - or Pietro Fittipaldi, who has twice stood in for the American outfit.

It would not be the first time such a situation has played out.

Back in 2020 when Hamilton was forced to withdraw from the Bahrain Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19, Mercedes called up then Williams driver George Russell to replace him.

Russell was not an official Mercedes reserve at the time and the two teams shared a similar arrangement to the one Ferrari and Haas have with Bearman. 

On that occasion, Williams replaced Russell with their reserve Jack Aitken after a deal between the two parties was struck overnight.

It would not be a surprise to see Ferrari do the same with Bearman if they needed a last-minute substitution.