With the final round of F1 pre-season testing coming to a close in Bahrain and the lights ready to go out in Melbourne in less than two weeks’ time, eleven teams are adding final touches to their roster and confirming their reserve and development drivers for the 2026 season.
As 22 drivers line up on the grid for the season-opening Australian GP, each squad’s reserve driver(s) will also be on standby should they be required to step into the cockpit at a moment’s notice to race.
Moreover, certain teams have diversified their portfolios, appointing development drivers who undertake rigorous simulator work and additional activities at the factory and trackside.
What purpose do reserve and development drivers serve in F1?
F1 teams employ reserve drivers, also known as third drivers, who are on call in case one of the regular drivers becomes unavailable, typically due to injury or illness. For instance, the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP saw Ollie Bearman substitute Carlos Sainz at Ferrari when the Spaniard fell ill with appendicitis.
While reserve drivers are rarely presented with the opportunity to participate in active competition, they are, at times, able to take to the track, whether as part of a Testing of Previous Cars programme, a Pirelli tyre test, or a free practice outing.
Far from simply sitting in the team’s garage at Grands Prix waiting for a chance to drive, reserve drivers play a vital role in helping the full-time drivers hone their set-up and find performance. They engage in simulator work at the team’s headquarters and also sit in engineering meetings.
Although the responsibilities of reserve and development drivers often overlap, some teams prefer to recruit development drivers in an independent capacity to guarantee utmost efficiency. This division allows them to cover both the urgent need for a race-ready substitute and the long-term, intensive work required for simulator testing and car development over the course of a season. Having specialised roles also facilitates better management of conflicting race calendars, ensuring that if one driver is unavailable due to a prior commitment, another is prepared to step in.
Development drivers, often including junior programme members, focus on hours of simulator work at the factory and data analysis. They contribute substantially to the car’s development in an era that restricts in-season testing of current-spec machinery. Naturally, the teams also help the young talents widen their professional horizons and move up the ranks whenever possible.
How many reserve and development drivers do F1 teams have?
There is no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to the number of reserve and development drivers an F1 team can employ. Some may opt to just have one reserve driver; others keep multiple on their roster. Mercedes, for example, have already announced one reserve and four development drivers who will support George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in the upcoming campaign.
Meanwhile, some teams reach agreements with others to share the services of a driver if required. This was the case in 2023 when Mick Schumacher, already a reserve driver for Mercedes, was also made available to McLaren.
Who are the reserve and development drivers for each F1 team in 2026?
Here’s all you need to know about the reserve and development drivers for the 2026 season, as eleven F1 teams gear up to tackle the brand new technical regulations across 24 race weekends.
McLaren’s reserve and development drivers in F1 showcase a blend of youth and experience
Reserve drivers: Pato O’Ward and Leonardo Fornaroli
Development driver: Leonardo Fornaroli
O’Ward:
Pato O’Ward will continue to serve as one of McLaren’s F1 reserve drivers in 2026, having taken part in multiple tests and practice sessions with the team since 2022. Although his primary focus will be his IndyCar campaign from March to early September, the Woking-based outfit could call upon the 26-year-old’s services if needed.
The Mexican racing driver competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. He was the runner-up last season, racking up two wins and four more podiums. The 2018 Indy Lights (currently Indy NXT) champion is also a part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Fornaroli:
McLaren snapped Leonardo Fornaroli up in December last year and recruited him to their Driver Development Programme after the Italian secured the F2 title in Qatar. Initially the team’s test and development driver, he has now taken up additional responsibilities as an official reserve.
According to the reigning constructors’ champions, Fornaroli would “undertake an intensive testing and sim programme to aid his development and provide invaluable support to the Formula 1 team in an unprecedented era of new regulations”.
Fornaroli secured back-to-back F3 and F2 titles, following in the footsteps of Gabriel Bortoleto, another former McLaren development prospect. He won the F3 championship in his second year with Trident but was the first champion to not score a single victory in his entire F3 career. Having claimed the F2 crown with Invicta in 2025, the 21-year-old also became the eighth driver in history to win the GP2/F2 title in their rookie season.
Mercedes pursue efficiency through their roster of F1 reserve and development drivers
Reserve driver: Frederik Vesti
Development drivers: Joshua Dürksen, Anthony Davidson, Doriane Pin, and Théo Pourchaire
Vesti:
Ahead of the first round of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, Mercedes confirmed that Frederik Vesti will perform the duties of the reserve or third driver in 2026.
After joining the Mercedes Junior Programme back in 2021, Vesti went on to become a reserve driver for the Brackley-based squad from 2024 onwards. The role also saw him participate in FP1 sessions and undertake a vast amount of simulator work.
Aside from being the inaugural champion of the Formula Regional European Championship, Vesti is also a four-time F3 race winner. He currently holds the record for the most points scored (284.5) in the series. Furthermore, the Dame came in second in the 2023 F2 championship, driving for Prema Racing.
Vesti made his sports car racing debut in the European Le Mans Series for the 2024 season. Last year, he signed with Cadillac Whelen to compete in the endurance rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Dürksen:
Alongside his duties at Mercedes, which will include simulator work and completing TPC programmes as a development driver, Joshua Dürksen will race in F2 with Invicta Racing in 2026.
During his previous two seasons in F2 with AIX Racing, Dürksen managed to secure four victories and eight more podiums. He is the first Paraguayan driver to win in any international F2 category. The 22-year-old was also a race winner in the F4 UAE, Italian F4, and ADAC F4 series.
Davidson:
Ex-F1 driver turned Sky Sports pundit Anthony Davidson is one of Mercedes’s official development drivers. He started working with the Brackley-based squad as a reserve and simulator driver in 2010.
The British former racing driver competed in F1 between 2002 and 2008 with teams including Minardi, BAR/Honda, and Super Aguri, making 24 Grand Prix starts.
After leaving F1, Davidson transitioned to endurance racing and won the 2014 World Endurance Drivers’ Championship with Toyota. He continued competing through 2021 before retiring from racing.
Pin:
Reigning F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin has graduated from the team’s junior programme and will serve as a development driver for Mercedes in the 2026 season.
Winning the 2022 Ferrari Challenge Europe title, Pin joined the all-female Iron Lynx lineup after the third round of the 2022 European Le Mans Series campaign. The Iron Dames wrapped up their season in style with a historic win in the LMGTE class at the 4 Hours of Portimão.
Following her move to single-seaters, Pin finished runner-up in the 2023 F4 South East Asia Championship. Moreover, she beat Ferrari-backed rival Maya Weug to last year’s F1 Academy crown with four victories and four further podiums across seven rounds.
Pourchaire:
Mercedes have also recently announced the recruitment of 2023 F2 champion Théo Pourchaire as a development driver for their 2026 F1 campaign.
After finishing runner-up in the 2020 F3 and 2022 F2 seasons, Pourchaire secured the 2023 F2 title with ART Grand Prix. In 2024, he temporarily raced in IndyCar with Arrow McLaren and additionally served as a reserve for the then-named Kick Sauber outfit.
As a member of the erstwhile Sauber Academy, Pourchaire took part in three FP1 sessions across the 2022 and 2023 seasons before graduating from their programme and leaving the squad.
The French driver then progressed to endurance racing, joining Peugeot as a development driver in 2025. He also made his World Endurance Championship debut in the same year. Alongside his Mercedes duties, the 22-year-old will also become a full-time Hypercar driver for Team Peugeot in 2026.
Tsunoda still part of the Red Bull family
Reserve driver: Yuki Tsunoda
As Red Bull enter 2026 with a new driver line-up comprising Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, Yuki Tsunoda will fulfil the role of reserve and test driver after losing his full-time F1 seat at the end of 2025.
A beneficiary of Honda’s support since 2016 through the Honda Formula Dream Project, Tsunoda graduated to junior formulae the same year. In 2019, he progressed to F3 with Jenzer Motorsport and became a member of the Red Bull Junior Team. The Japanese driver finished third in his debut F2 season with Carlin, just 15 points short of the title, and earned the coveted FIA ‘Rookie of the Year’ award in 2020.
Tsunoda debuted in F1 for AlphaTauri in 2021 and finished a career-best fourth at the Abu Dhabi GP that year. After a three-year stint with the sister team, he received his much-awaited call-up to the championship-winning squad ahead of his home race. However, the 25-year-old failed to impress, and the Milton Keynes outfit announced Hadjar as his replacement in December.
One F1 reserve driver is enough for Ferrari
Reserve driver: Antonio Giovinazzi
With Zhou Guanyu bidding his farewell to the team ahead of the 2026 F1 season, Antonio Giovinazzi remains Ferrari’s sole reserve driver as he also gears up for a title-defending campaign in the World Endurance Championship.
Besides racing for the Sauber outfit in F1 under their former Alfa Romeo guise between 2019 and 2021, the Italian driver has worked with Scuderia Ferrari since 2017.
In endurance racing, Giovinazzi won the World Endurance Championship in 2025 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, both with Ferrari.
Williams F1 choose young talents as their reserve and development drivers for 2026
Reserve driver: Luke Browning
Development driver: Victor Martins
Browning:
Luke Browning will juggle Super Formula racing duties with a Williams F1 reserve driver role in 2026.
Winning the 2022 GB3 title, Browning graduated to F3 with Hitech in 2023 and also became a member of the Williams Driver Academy. He finished third in the championship with 128 points the following year, taking three podiums, with two being wins. Furthermore, the Brit stood on the top step of the podium at the 2023 Macau Grand Prix.
Browning received an early promotion to F2 in 2024 with ART Grand Prix before returning to Hitech in 2025. He secured a victory at Monza and eight more podium finishes en route to fourth in the standings.
After the conclusion of his 2025 Formula 2 campaign, Browning took part in a Super Formula test. He will compete in Japan’s premier single-seater series for Kondo Racing this year.
Martins:
The Williams F1 team announced last month that their Driver Academy graduate, Victor Martins, will settle into a new role as test and development driver for the 2026 season.
A former member of the Alpine Academy, Martins won the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2022 F3 Championship, scoring two wins and four more podiums. He competed in F2 from 2023 to 2025 with ART Grand Prix, securing three victories in total in three years. Emerging as the top rookie in 2023, the Frenchman was a recipient of the prestigious Anthoine Hubert Award.
Martins joined the Williams Driver Academy in March 2025 and took part in his first F1 test for the team the next month. Thereafter, he made his free practice debut at the Spanish GP, in place of Alex Albon.
Martins participated in the WEC rookie test in November 2024 with the Alpine Endurance Team. He set the session’s fourth-fastest time, which was also the highest among the rookies. The 2026 WEC grid will see the 24-year-old take to the track for the French outfit.
Racing Bulls going for familiar faces
Reserve drivers: Yuki Tsunoda and Ayumu Iwasa
Tsunoda:
Yuki Tsunoda will remain on standby for not only Red Bull but also Racing Bulls through the upcoming F1 campaign, should either team require a substitute driver. He will provide support off the track as well.
Iwasa:
Tsunoda’s compatriot Ayumu Iwasa will serve as the other reserve driver for Racing Bulls as they try to establish themselves as the top midfield team in 2026.
Iwasa earned early success in his career when winning the 2014 Suzuka Karting Championship Yamaha-SS Class and the Suzuka Karting Championship x-30 class titles. He progressed to single-seater racing in 2017, making his debut in the F4 Japanese Championship and then racing in the Asian Formula Renault Series.
2020 saw Iwasa become a Honda Junior Driver and dominate the French F4 Championship. He won that title by 81 points from his closest rival, resulting in him becoming a member of the Red Bull Junior Team in January 2021.
After competing in the Asian Formula Three and the FIA F3 Championship in 2021, Iwasa drove for DAMS in the F2 Championship in 2022. Securing three victories next season, he finished fourth in the overall standings.
The 24-year-old currently competes in the Super Formula Championship for Team Mugen, winning the title in 2025.
Aston Martin opt for two reserve drivers ahead of the 2026 F1 season
Reserve drivers: Jak Crawford and Stoffel Vandoorne
Crawford:
Aston Martin confirmed last year that Jak Crawford will become the team’s third driver for the 2026 F1 season.
Coming in second in the 2020 ADAC F4 series, Crawford spent the next two years in F3, ending up seventh in the latter with Prema Racing. He moved up to F2 and spent three years there from 2023 to 2025, finishing runner-up last season with DAMS.
Previously a member of the Red Bull Junior Team from 2020 to 2023, Crawford joined Aston Martin’s Young Driver Development Programme in 2024. He has since accumulated more than 2,000 kms in F1 machinery. The American made his Grand Prix weekend debut at the Mexico City GP last year, driving Lance Stroll’s AMR25 during the first practice session.
If one of the team’s full-time drivers is unable to race, Crawford will be the first option to take the position as Aston Martin’s official third driver.
Vandoorne:
Stoffel Vandoorne will stay on as Aston Martin’s test and reserve driver for 2026. He has been associated with the Silverstone-based F1 outfit since 2023.
Following an impressive rookie GP2 campaign, Vandoorne won the championship in record-breaking fashion with seven victories and 16 podiums in 2015. He made his Grand Prix race debut in 2016 with McLaren and collected 26 points over the course of his F1 career.
The Belgian driver moved into Formula E for the 2018–19 season with HWA and eventually went on to win the 2021–22 world championship with Mercedes. He entered sportscar racing in 2021, finishing runner-up in the LMP2 class of the World Endurance Championship with Jota. The 33-year-old will continue competing in the Hypercar category for Peugeot in 2026.
Haas offering a new lifeline
Reserve drivers: Jack Doohan and Ryo Hirakawa
Doohan:
Haas have appointed Jack Doohan as one of their reserve drivers for the 2026 F1 campaign.
After claiming second position in the 2019–20 F3 Asian Championship, Doohan moved to FIA F3 in 2020. He finished runner-up to Dennis Hauger the following season with Trident. The Australian then progressed to F2, achieving several wins in both his 2022 and 2023 campaigns with Virtuosi and finishing third in the latter.
A former member of the Red Bull and Alpine driver academies, Doohan took part in seven Grands Prix with the Enstone-based squad in 2025. Given his failure to score a single point, Franco Colapinto replaced him after six races. The 23-year-old completed the season as Alpine’s reserve driver and left the team last month.
Doohan was on course to move to Super Formula and drive for Kondo Racing this year. However, he crashed a remarkable three times in Suzuka’s Degner 2 corner during the rookie test that took place in December, and disagreements between the two parties reportedly resulted in his plans falling through at the last minute.
Hirakawa:
Ryo Hirakawa will join Doohan in the reserve driver role, with Toyota’s Hypercar driver having held the position since April 2025 as the technical partnership between the Japanese brand and the American F1 outfit deepened further.
Crowned as the Super GT GT500 champion in 2017, Hirakawa finished runner-up in Super Formula in 2020. He has competed in the World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class since 2022, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his debut season and the championship titles in 2022 and 2023.
Hirakawa made his debut in an F1 race weekend at the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP, driving the McLaren MCL38 in the first practice session in place of Oscar Piastri. Additionally, he participated in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi for Haas.
Despite joining Alpine as a test and reserve driver in January 2025, Hirakawa switched to Haas due to his strong ties with Toyota and later made more free practice appearances with the team over the course of the season.
Alpine retain their 2025 reserve drivers for upcoming F1 campaign
Reserve drivers: Paul Aron and Kush Maini
Aron:
Paul Aron will continue in his role as test and reserve driver for Alpine in 2026, having served on the team’s roster of drivers through 2025.
After making strong impressions in Italian F4 and Formula Renault Eurocup, Aron progressed to F3, where he finished third in his rookie season. He graduated to F2 in 2024 and finished third to Bortoleto and Hadjar following his maiden victory at Lusail with Hitech.
A member of the Mercedes Junior Team from 2019 to 2023, Aron joined Alpine as a reserve driver in 2025 and made his free practice debut in F1 at the British GP. Besides, the Estonian made his Formula E debut with Envision at the 2024 Berlin ePrix.
Maini:
Apart from competing in the F2 Championship with ART Grand Prix in 2026, Kush Maini will shoulder a variety of responsibilities as an Alpine Academy member and as a reserve driver for the F1 team.
Maini has previously contended in F4, Formula Renault Eurocup, World Endurance Championship, BRDC British F3 Championship, FIA F3 Championship and achieved varying levels of success. He will embark on his fourth F2 campaign in 2026. Since the 2023-24 Formula E season, the Indian driver has also continued as a reserve driver for Mahindra.
After joining the Alpine Academy in October 2023, Maini experienced his maiden F1 test at the Red Bull Ring next year. As a senior member of the academy, he participated in Alpine’s TPC programme as well as represented the team at show run events such as Goodwood’s Festival of Speed.
The French outfit promoted Maini to the reserve driver roster ahead of the 2025 season, and the 25-year-old made his official debut in an F1 session when he drove the A525 in the Abu Dhabi post-season Young Driver Test.
Audi surprise the F1 grid with their development driver choice for 2026
Reserve driver: TBC
Development driver: Ralph Boschung
While Audi don’t have an official reserve driver yet, they have appointed former F2 driver Ralph Boschung as a development driver ahead of the manufacturer’s first season as a works outfit in F1.
A race winner in the GP3 Series, Boschung drove for multiple teams in F2 between 2017 and 2023. He eventually clinched a race win in Bahrain in his final year in the championship with Campos Racing.
The Swiss driver previously announced that he had retired from competitive racing on social media in 2024. Nonetheless, Sauber employed him as a simulator driver for two seasons.
Cadillac F1’s promising line-up of 2026 reserve and development drivers
Reserve driver: Zhou Guanyu
Development drivers: Colton Herta and Pietro Fittipaldi
Zhou:
The brand new Cadillac F1 team confirmed Zhou Guanyu as the reserve driver for their debut campaign on January 5, just three days after he parted ways with Ferrari.
After finishing runner-up in the 2015 Italian F4 Championship, Zhou raced in the F3 European Championship for three seasons. He took on a development driver role in Formula E for Techeetah in 2017–18 as well. The Shanghai native competed in F2 from 2019 to 2021 for Virtuosi, finishing third in his final season.
Zhou is the first driver from China to compete in F1, racing for Alfa Romeo in the 2022 and 2023 seasons and staying with the team under its Kick Sauber name in 2024. He has taken part in 68 Grands Prix and scored 16 points.
After departing Sauber at the end of 2024, Zhou made a return to the Scuderia, where he had been a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018 and spent the 2025 campaign in a reserve role.
Herta:
While Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas have made their way back to the F1 grid with Cadillac in 2026, IndyCar star Colton Herta will spend the upcoming season as the team’s test and development driver.
Although Herta has spent the majority of his career in American racing, he made his debut in the UK-based MSA Formula series in 2015 and was Lando Norris’s teammate. He opted to contend in the Euroformula Open Championship next year, staying with Carlin and finishing third in points, with four victories and six podium finishes. Additionally, the California native went on to compete in six British F3 events, earning a victory and two more podiums at Brands Hatch.
Herta entered the Indy Lights series in 2017, won Rookie of the Year, and finished third in the drivers’ championship. He competed in IndyCar from 2019 to 2025, securing his best overall finish of second in the championship in 2024. Aside from being the youngest-ever IndyCar winner back in 2019, the American has nine victories and 16 pole positions to his name from his 116 career starts in the series.
Despite facing considerable difficulties when it comes to F1’s licensing requirements and his hunt for a seat, Herta has previous experience, having tested a 2021-spec McLaren MCL35M at Portimão back in 2022.
As he chases his “ultimate ambition” of one day racing in F1, Herta has swapped the United States-based IndyCar Series for Europe and F2 in 2026. The 25-year-old will race for Hitech TGR in the F2 championship this season.
Fittipaldi:
F1’s eleventh team, Cadillac, named Pietro Fittipaldi as a development driver back in October 2025 alongside simulator drivers Simon Pagenaud and Charlie Eastwood.
Fittipaldi previously acted as a test and reserve driver for Haas, a role that saw him step in for an injured Romain Grosjean at the Sakhir and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix in 2020. In doing so, he became the fourth member of the Fittipaldi family to compete in F1.
Following part-time stints in 2018 and 2021, Fittipaldi competed full-time in the IndyCar Series in 2024 with RLL.
Outside of open-wheel racing, the 29-year-old entered the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2019, the European Le Mans Series from 2021 to 2022, and the World Endurance Championship in 2023. Furthermore, he has competed in the LMP2 class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship since 2023 for Rick Ware, Inter Europol, and Pratt Miller.
