Ferrari announce driver change for Bahrain race weekend as youngster handed chance to impress

Ferrari have announced that 21-year-old Formula 2 star Dino Beganovic will replace Charles Leclerc for practice one at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

It's been an extremely tough start to the season for the Scuderia, with a subpar opening weekend in Australia followed by a double disqualification in China.

The Italian team were joint favourites for the 2025 F1 constructors title alongside McLaren, but Ferrari already sit 61 points behind after just two races.

Despite their rocky start Ferrari have chosen to give an early opportunity to one of their academy products, with Swedish star Beganovic confirmed for Bahrain.

Every season each F1 driver must vacate their seat for one FP1 session, as teams are required to field a rookie driver who hasn't yet completed more than two F1 races.

In this instance it will be Leclerc who hands over his keys as opposed to Lewis Hamilton, who himself is also getting to grips with the Ferrari.

In a statement on their website, Ferrari confirmed the decision to hand the opportunity to the F2 star.

The statement read: "Dino Beganovic is going to have a busy weekend in Bahrain: the 21 year old Swedish Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student will be racing in the second round of the Formula 2 championship with the Hitech Grand Prix team and he will also make his debut driving in an official Formula 1 session, when he gets behind the wheel of Charles Leclerc’s SF-25 for the first free practice session."

Dino Beganovic- Getty

The Swede will become the fifth driver from the Maranello Academy to drive a Ferrari in an official session after Charles and Arthur Leclerc, Robert Schwartzman and Oliver Bearman.

Beganovic made his F2 debut for the final two rounds of the 2024 season after finishing 6th in last season's F3 campaign.

The Ferrari academy man has multiple Swedish karting titles to his name, before graduating to single seaters in the 2020 season where he has continued to impress.