F1| Ferrari: Bearman and Arthur Leclerc become reserve drivers

On Saturday, Ferrari confirmed its reserve and development drivers for the 2024 Formula 1 world championship, who will work in support of the two official bearers of the Scuderia, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Compared to the last championship, the innovation lies in the addition of Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc to the group, two drivers from the Academy dedicated to young Cavallino drivers, which provided them with support and took care of their preparation in their respective careers in the categories preparatory.

This year the Briton will take part in the Formula 2 championship for a second season with Prema, where he will join the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is making his debut in the category. Alongside his commitments in the cadet series, Bearman will also take on the role of reserve of the Ferrari Formula 1 Team, ready to intervene in the event of incapacity of one of the two official drivers: the Englishman will share the role with Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman, who instead they will be engaged in the WEC world championship at the wheel of the Ferrari 499P Hypercar.

Berman has already had the opportunity to test two Formula 1 cars over the last few months: in October he first drove the Ferrari SF21 to complete the 300 km necessary to obtain FIA permission to take to the track on an official weekend, while in the following weeks he got behind the wheel of the Haas VF-23 in free practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, as well as in the tests dedicated to young drivers in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2023.

Arthur Leclerc will instead join Antonio Fuoco and Davide Rigon in the role of development driver, supporting the team from home on the simulator on race weekends. Furthermore, the Monegasque will participate in the work of fine-tuning and evaluating the updates introduced during the course of the season. After leaving Formula 2 after just one season, Leclerc will take part in the Italian GT championship this year with Scuderia Baldini 27.

Fuoco, on the other hand, will continue his adventure in the WEC Hypercar class with the 499 P number 50, with which last year he also took pole at the prestigious 24h of Le Mans, while Rigon will continue to race in the same series, but in the LMGT3 class in Vista AF Corse GT3 team.

Both Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc will next week take part in a test session driving the Ferrari F1-75 to accumulate mileage in a top-flight car, the first of the ground-effect era following the 2022 regulation change.