Alongside Oliver Bearman, Here Are the 15 F1 Reserve Drivers Set To Drive in 2024

The 2024 F1 season commenced without any rookies on the grid. However, just into the second race of the season, an unfortunate turn of events for Carlos Sainz resulted in 18-year-old Oliver Bearman‘s F1 debut. Someone’s loss became someone else’s gain as Carlos Sainz‘s painful case of appendicitis opened the door for Bearman, who became the youngest-ever rookie for Ferrari.

And as we see all of this coming true for the British rookie, we need to understand a rule that FIA rolled out a couple of years ago. The rule states that every driver must give up one FP1 outing for a rookie, who has no more than two Grand Prix starts. This means every team needs to give up 2 FP1 outings to a rookie.

Formula One F1 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – March 8, 2024 Ferrari’s Oliver Bearman during qualifying Pool via REUTERS/Giuseppe Cacace

But that also brings reserve drivers in the mix who despite not being bound by such rules go for a couple of outings in an F1 car to aid development and brush up their skills because one can never know who will be called in to fill in like Liam Lawson or Bearman.

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Let us take a look at new faces (or old) who will be driving in 2024.

Formula 1 reserve drivers who will drive in 2024

For Red Bull and sister team VCARB, Liam Lawson is their reserve driver who made quite an impression filling in for Daniel Ricciardo. However, since he won’t be classified as a rookie, it will be interesting to watch who they put in their car apart from him. Their closest rivals from last year, Mercedes, have two reserve drivers in the name of Mick Schumacher and Fred Vesti, and with Schumacher being away for his other racing commitments and not being classified as a rookie, Vesti seems like the favorite. Ferrari seems to be spoiled for options as the team has 3 reserve drivers, including ex-F1 driver and Le Mans champion; Antonio Giovinnazi, the 18-year-old making his debut, Oliver Bearman (also a reserve for Haas alongside Pietro Fittipaldi), and Robert Shwartzman. Felipe Drugovich is Aston Martin’s reserve driver who stepped in during testing when Lance Stroll was nursing his injury. McLaren also has two options in Ryo Hirakawa and Pato O’Ward.

That leaves us with Williams who are yet to announce their reserve or rookie choice as they usually borrow from Mercedes like they did Nyck de Vries, Alpine who have Jack Doohan as their reserve, and Stake F1 who have Zane Maloney, and reigning F2 champion Theo Pourchaire in the reserve role.

READ MORE: Carlos Sainz Health Update: Heart-Wrenching Details Grab Limelight After Ferrari Star Appendix Revelation

With that elaborate list, who are you most looking forward to?