New driver handed Ferrari FP1 outing at an F1 grand prix
This would be Dino Beganovic's second experience in a grand prix car.
Ferrari Academy driver Dino Beganovic will make his maiden Formula 1 practice appearance at next month’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Beganovic, who is racing in Formula 2 with Hitech this year, will replace Charles Leclerc in the opening practice at the Bahrain International Circuit on 11 April.
The announcement follows the Swedish driver sampling an older-spec Ferrari F1 car for the first time in a closed-door test at Barcelona in January. There, he was joined by Ferrari’s race drivers Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Like all teams, Ferrari is required to give young drivers four FP1 outings over the course of the 2025 season, up from two last year.
Last year, Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc completed mandatory FP1 running with Ferrari, while Robert Shwartzman and even Charles Leclerc benefited from this rule in the past.
Beganovic first joined Ferrari’s young driver programme in 2020 following his step up to single-seater machinery.
He clinched the Formula Regional European Championship on his second attempt in 2023 and won multiple races in Formula 3 last year en route to sixth in the championship.
He made his F2 debut in the penultimate round of 2024, replacing Juan Manuel Correa at DAMS, and scored a podium in just his second weekend in the series in Abu Dhabi.
In 2025, he is contesting the full F2 season with Hitech, where he is teamed up with Williams junior Luke Browning.
Beganovic’s FP1 debut in Bahrain will make him just the second Swede to drive a Ferrari F1 car in an official session after Stefan Johannson, who raced for the team in 1985-86.
Ronnie Peterson, who also hails from Sweden, represented Ferrari in endurance racing and was part of its factory team at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1970.
