F1 Reserve Drivers Explained: Who's on Standby for Every Team? (2026)
Every F1 grid has 20 race seats, but each of the 11 teams also carries a reserve driver most fans only hear about when something goes wrong. Here's what the role actually involves, who holds it for every team in 2026, and the Friday-to-Sunday story that shows exactly why teams keep one on the books.
F1 Reserve Drivers by the Numbers
- 11 teams, 10 confirmed: every 2026 grid team except Audi has already named its reserve driver, per RacingNews365's own team-by-team round-up.
- 40 points: the minimum FIA Super Licence points a driver needs, earned within the prior 3 years, before they're allowed to race an F1 car -- winning the F2 or IndyCar title alone is worth all 40.
- 18: the minimum age to hold a full Super Licence and be eligible for a reserve-to-race call-up.
- 2 sessions per car: the mandatory FP1 outings each team must give a rookie driver every season since 2025 -- 4 rookie sessions in total per team, per Formula1.com's own rule breakdown.
- Hours: how much notice Oliver Bearman had between learning he'd replace an ill Carlos Sainz and driving a Ferrari F1 car for the very first time, on the Friday of the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.
- 7th place: where Bearman finished that race on his debut, having qualified 11th just one day after sitting in the car for the first time.
What a Reserve Driver Actually Does
A reserve driver's real job has almost nothing to do with racing on a Sunday. Day to day, the role is built around simulator sessions and car-development work back at the factory -- helping engineers evaluate new parts and 2026-regulation changes without burning through track mileage in the real car. Mercedes' Frederik Vesti, for example, combines the reserve role with a full IMSA sports-car season specifically to stay race-sharp between simulator duty, while Red Bull moved Yuki Tsunoda into the reserve seat for 2026 after five seasons as a race driver, now focused on simulator and development running for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls. The one moment reserve duty becomes urgent is exactly the scenario the role exists for: a driver falls ill, gets injured, or is otherwise unavailable, and the reserve has to be ready to take the seat with whatever notice they're given -- sometimes a full race weekend, sometimes, as the section below covers, almost none at all.
Who's the Reserve for Every 2026 Team
Every team names its reserve driver ahead of the season, and most keep the same one for multiple years so they stay familiar with the car -- here's the full 2026 grid, per RacingNews365 and Motor Sport Magazine's own team-by-team reporting.
| Team | Reserve Driver(s) | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Ferrari | Antonio Giovinazzi | Ferrari's reserve for 9 straight years, former Alfa Romeo race driver |
| Mercedes | Frederik Vesti | Also races a full IMSA sports-car season to stay sharp |
| Red Bull Racing | Yuki Tsunoda | Moved from race seat to reserve/development duty for 2026 |
| Racing Bulls | Yuki Tsunoda | Shared reserve duty with sister team Red Bull |
| McLaren | Leonardo Fornaroli & Pato O'Ward | Fornaroli is the reigning F2 champion; O'Ward races full-time in IndyCar |
| Aston Martin | Jak Crawford | Aston Martin junior-program graduate |
| Williams | Luke Browning | Promoted from Williams' junior driver program |
| Alpine | Paul Aron | Alpine Academy junior driver |
| Haas | Jack Doohan & Ryo Hirakawa | Doohan raced for Alpine in 2025 before moving to the reserve role |
| Cadillac | Zhou Guanyu | Former Sauber race driver, joined Cadillac as reserve for the team's debut season |
| Audi (Sauber) | To be confirmed | Last team yet to name a 2026 reserve, per RacingNews365 |
Notice how several of these names -- Tsunoda, Doohan, Zhou -- raced full seasons as recently as 2025 before moving into a reserve role, while others like Fornaroli and Crawford are coming up through a team's junior program. Both paths lead to the same Super Licence requirements our Super Licence points explainer breaks down in full.
The Friday That Made Oliver Bearman's Career
No recent story shows what the reserve role is actually for better than Ferrari's 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz was hospitalized with appendicitis just before the race weekend, and Ferrari called up 18-year-old reserve driver Oliver Bearman -- who was competing in Formula 2 that same weekend -- with almost no warning. Bearman had never driven the actual Ferrari F1 car before final practice on Friday afternoon, per Formula1.com's own account of the weekend. He qualified 11th and finished 7th in the race itself, becoming the first driver to make his F1 debut with Ferrari since 1972. It's a genuinely rare outcome -- most reserve call-ups don't end with a points finish on debut -- but it's exactly the scenario every team is preparing for when it keeps a reserve driver on retainer, and it's the same real-time pressure our race engineer explainer covers from the other side of the radio.
Why Reserve Drivers Still Need Track Time
A reserve driver who's never actually driven the current car in anger is a liability if a call-up does happen, which is part of why the FIA's rookie-running rule matters here. Since 2025, every team must give a driver with no more than one prior Grand Prix start at least two FP1 sessions per car across the season -- four rookie outings per team in total, per Formula1.com's own rule summary. Reserve drivers who still qualify as rookies are usually the ones teams use to satisfy that requirement, which is exactly how someone like McLaren's Leonardo Fornaroli or Aston Martin's Jak Crawford is expected to pick up real mileage in 2026 well before any emergency call-up scenario. It's also a decision that ultimately runs through team management rather than the driver alone, the same layer of sign-off our team principal guide covers for driver-facing personnel calls.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an F1 reserve driver actually do?
A reserve driver is a team's on-call backup, ready to step into the race car if the primary driver can't compete through injury or illness. Day to day the job is mostly simulator work and car-development testing rather than racing itself, plus mandatory FP1 outings for rookies under the FIA's rookie-running rule.
What are the requirements to become an F1 reserve driver?
A reserve driver needs the same FIA Super Licence as a race driver to actually get in the car on a race weekend -- minimum age 18, at least 40 Super Licence points earned within the prior three years, and a passed FIA theory test on the sporting regulations. Drivers who only run practice sessions can qualify for a lower-threshold Free Practice Only Super Licence instead.
Has an F1 reserve driver ever had to race unexpectedly?
Yes -- the clearest recent example is Oliver Bearman, Ferrari's reserve driver, who was told on the Friday morning of the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that Carlos Sainz needed emergency appendix surgery. Bearman had never driven the car before final practice that afternoon, qualified 11th, and finished 7th on his F1 debut.
Do F1 reserve drivers get real track time during the season?
Some do, through the FIA's mandatory rookie-running rule: since 2025, every team must give a driver with no more than one prior Grand Prix start at least two FP1 sessions per car per season, four rookie outings in total. Reserve drivers who qualify as rookies are the ones teams usually use to fulfil that requirement.
The Bottom Line
A reserve driver spends most of the season in a simulator rig, not a race car, and their rare on-track running usually comes via the mandatory rookie FP1 outings covered in our free practice explainer -- but every team keeps one on retainer -- and pays for the full Super Licence that comes with it -- because the one weekend they're needed can't be planned for. Oliver Bearman's 2024 Saudi Arabia weekend is the story every team points to, but it's the exception: for most of the 2026 grid's ten confirmed reserves, the job is quiet development work that only becomes visible if a driver phone call goes wrong. To see engineers and drivers making the exact real-time calls a reserve has to be ready to step into, browse the team radio archive, or read our team principal guide for who signs off on a call-up like Bearman's.