Ferrari: Dino Beganovic prepares for Bahrain FP1 with SF-23 run at Fiorano. Dino Beganovic hit the track at Fiorano with the SF-23 to prepare for his Ferrari debut.

Last Friday, Ferrari confirmed that Dino Beganovic, one of the Ferrari Academy drivers, will make his debut in an official Formula 1 weekend in Bahrain when he replaces Charles Leclerc at the wheel of the SF-25 during the first free practice session.

For the young Swede, it will be a special Friday, as it will coincide with a double commitment. In addition to making his debut in an official F1 session with the SF-25, the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student will also take part in the second round of the F2 championship with the Hitech Grand Prix team.

A demanding double commitment for young drivers, especially since in junior categories there is little time available to prepare for qualifying, requiring them to quickly readjust to the Formula 2 car. However, he will have the advantage of racing on a track he knows well, as the Sakhir circuit has been on the junior series calendar for years.

To prepare for his Bahrain commitment, this morning Dino Beganovic took to the track with an SF-23 at the Fiorano circuit to further familiarize himself with a top-tier single-seater. The choice of the SF-23 was due to TPC test regulations, which allow only cars that are at least two seasons old to be used.

In reality, this was not Dino Beganovic’s first outing in an F1 car, as he had already driven in Barcelona before the start of the season, again with the 2023 car, in a private test session alongside Antonio Giovinazzi. This was also an opportunity to accumulate mileage in a real car and stay sharp for data-gathering work to be used in the simulator, alongside Zhou Guanyu, Antonio Giovinazzi, and other Ferrari drivers.

FIA regulations stipulate that each official driver must give up their seat at least twice during the season to a colleague with no more than two F1 race starts. Compared to last season, opportunities for young drivers have increased, as the number of mandatory FP1 sessions for rookies has doubled from one to two per race seat, totaling four FP1 sessions reserved for academy talents.

Dino Beganovic will be the fifth Academy driver to drive a Ferrari in an official session, following Charles and Arthur Leclerc, Robert Schwartzman, and Oliver Bearman. Dino, who joined the Academy in 2020, will be the second Swede to drive for Ferrari in F1, after Stefan Johansson, who raced for the Scuderia in 1985 and 1986.