Oliver Bearman will serve as backup to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at Ferrari during the 2024 F1 season; Bearman made his F1 practice debut in 2023, appearing twice for Haas; Charles Leclerc's younger brother Arthur made Ferrari development driver
Saturday 27 January 2024 11:26, UK
Ferrari have made British teenager Oliver Bearman one of their reserve drivers for the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Bearman, 18, joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2021 and made his F1 practice session debut in 2023 as he featured for Haas in Mexico City, before returning to the cockpit at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Bearman will share Ferrari's 2024 reserve driver duties with Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman, with the trio on hand to support or step in for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
"Oliver Bearman, the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student currently racing in Formula 2 with the Prema team, will also take on the role of Reserve Driver, ready to step in if a race driver is incapacitated, a role he will share with Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman," Ferrari said in a statement on Saturday.
"These last two are also taking part in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) at the wheel of the Ferrari 499 P Hypercar, numbers 51 and 83 respectively."
Bearman, who will also drive a second Formula 2 season for Prema Racing in 2024, finished sixth in his debut campaign in the feeder series last year, winning three feature races and one sprint race.
Competing for Prema in Formula 3 in 2022, Bearman finished third in the championship.
Ferrari also confirmed that Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Charles, will become one of the team's development drivers.
The announcement comes days after Ferrari announced a contract extension for Charles Leclerc, whose previous deal had been set to expire at the end of 2024.
Sainz's future with the team remains uncertain, with talks understood to be ongoing over an extension to his current deal, which also expires at the end of the upcoming campaign.
The Italian team said that both Bearman and Arthur Leclerc will feature alongside Charles Leclerc and Sainz at a three-day tyre testing session for Pirelli in Barcelona next week.
"On 29 and 30 January Charles and Carlos will be at the wheel of last year's SF23, carrying out tests for the sport's sole tyre supplier," Ferrari said.
"Also on the 29th, Arthur Leclerc will get his very first taste of driving a Formula 1 car, from the cockpit of the 2022 F1-75. On Tuesday 30th, Charles and Carlos will share both the SF23 and the F1-75, while on 31st Oliver Bearman will be alone on track in the F1-75."
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