Ferrari Names Dino Beganovic F1 Reserve Driver for 2027

Dino Beganovic will step into Ferrari’s Formula 1 reserve driver lineup for the 2027 season, ending a seven-year progression through the Scuderia’s junior ranks without securing a full-time race seat. The 22-year-old Swedish-Bosnian joins Antonio Giovinazzi on the Maranello-based team’s standby roster.

The promotion formalizes a role Beganovic has already been rehearsing. Across the 2025 and 2026 campaigns, he completed four Friday FP1 practice outings for Ferrari. His 2027 contract expands those simulator and development responsibilities as the team prepares for Formula 1’s sweeping 2027 technical regulations, which introduce new aerodynamic concepts and revised power unit parameters requiring extensive virtual testing from reserve personnel.

Beganovic arrives at the pinnacle of Ferrari’s development ladder with victories in every full-time single-seater category he contested. After claiming Italian and Swedish karting titles and finishing second in the WSK Euro Series, he entered the Ferrari Driver Academy. He placed third as a rookie in Italian F4 before winning the Formula Regional European Championship in his sophomore attempt. Two seasons in FIA Formula 3 yielded sixth-place championship finishes both years.

Currently racing for DAMS Lucas Oil in his second Formula 2 season, Beganovic sits fifth in the 2026 standings. Back-to-back feature race victories in Madring and Baku demonstrated his raw pace, yet that speed ultimately proved insufficient to leapfrog younger talent within Ferrari’s own hierarchy.

Rafael Camara, a Brazilian prospect also managed by the FDA, bypassed Beganovic entirely. Competing as an F2 rookie this year, Camara leads the championship and finalized a 2027 race deal with Haas. He is expected to partner fellow academy graduate Oliver Bearman at the American-licensed constructor, which operates as Ferrari’s primary customer team and traditional landing spot for its surplus junior talent.

Reserve positions at top-tier constructors rarely function as direct stepping stones to race seats in modern Formula 1. Unlike the early 2010s, when standby drivers frequently rotated into cockpits mid-season, current grid stability means reserves primarily operate advanced simulators, support tire testing programs, and remain on standby for sudden medical or contractual vacancies. Giovinazzi has occupied this exact niche for Ferrari since losing his full-time Alfa Romeo seat after the 2021 season, making the pairing a blend of veteran operational knowledge and emerging engineering feedback.

With both Beganovic and Camara vacating the Formula 2 grid next year, Ferrari’s pipeline continues downward. Finnish prospect Tuukka Taponen will advance to F2 in 2027 after finishing third in this year’s F3 championship. Taponen secured that standing through a late surge, earning three podiums in the final two rounds after failing to record a single top-three finish earlier in the 2026 campaign.