Who will be the reserve drivers for the 2025 season?

Every season, drivers remain in the shadow of the regulars, ready to take the wheel in case of unforeseen circumstances: in 2025, who will be the reserve drivers for the ten teams on the grid?

Published 05/02/2025 à 12:01

Dorian Grangier

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Who will be the reserve drivers for the 2025 season?

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

The 2024 season was a bit of a wake-up call: yes, reserve drivers can get their chance and yes, some are even quite successful when they answer their team's call! Last year, for example, Oliver Bearman filled this role three times (once with Ferrari, twice with Haas) and had scored points twice. In fewer Grands Prix, Franco Colapinto had scored four points with Williams, against zero for the pilot he was replacing, Logan sargeant.

In short, the role of reserve driver is not to be taken lightly: the third driver is said to follow the team on all (or most if there are several reserves) trips of the season and must be ready to put on the suit and take the wheel if a driver has to withdraw at the last minute, or if he cannot take part in the weekend (suspension, injury, dismissal from the team, etc.). Generally, reserve drivers are young drivers who are biding their time in Formula 1…but they can also be experienced pilots who bring all their knowledge of the discipline to help the team progress, on site and in the simulator.

With almost a month to go before the first winter tests in Bahrain (February 26-28), several teams have already made their reserve drivers official for the 2025 season. This is particularly the case for Alpine who has announced not one, not two, but three (!) reserve drivers in 2025 with Paul Aron, Ryo Hirakawa (who will participate in FP1 at Suzuka) and finally Franco Colapinto. The ex-Williams driver has been recruited by the French team as 3rd driver… but the Argentinian could quickly be promoted to the starting line-up if Jack Doohan does not perform quickly enough.

In addition Alpine, three teams have officially announced their reserve driver: Mercedes will find his old pilot Valtteri Bottas, who is returning to the German house after the end of his adventure with Sauber, and Aston Martin who confirmed Felipe Drugovich as a reserve for a third consecutive season, alongside Stoffel Vandoorne. For its part, Ferrari decided to keep Antonio Giovinazzi and recruit a brand new one in the person of Guanyu-Zhou whose name had been mentioned at length in the Italian press at the end of 2024. For the Chinese, this is a return to the Scuderia since he had been a member of the academy from 2014 to 2018, even if this time the choice seems to fall a priori on the economic side of the driver and the window of exposure that he offers to his new employer.

Kevin Magnussen, whose adventure with Haas ended in 2024, will still remain linked to the American team in 2025 as a development driver and potentially, reserve driver on certain rounds.

For the other teams, nothing has been made official yet, but we can assume some names. For Racing Bulls, Ayumu Iwasa could also re-enlist, even if Arvid Lindblad could be promoted to the role of reserve during the season. Haas could also trust Ritomo Miyata, the Super Formula champion in 2023 and who participated in the TPC ("Testing of Previous Cars") program organized by the American team in January. Finally, Valterri Bottas could also be made available by Mercedes to be a reserve McLaren and Williams if needed.

F1 2025
Reserve pilots

McLaren : 🇲🇽 Pato O'Ward / 🇫🇮 Valtteri Bottas
Ferrari : 🇮🇹 Antonio Giovinazzi / 🇨🇳 Guanyu Zhou
Red Bull : 🇯🇵 Yuki tsunoda
Mercedes : 🇫🇮 Valtteri Bottas
Aston Martin : 🇧🇷 Felipe Drugovich / 🇧🇪 Stoffel Vandoorne
Alpine : 🇦🇷 Franco Colapinto / 🇪🇪 Paul Aron / 🇯🇵 Ryo Hirakawa
Haas : 🇩🇰 Kevin Magnussen / 🇯🇵 Miyata returns
Racing Bulls : 🇯🇵 Ayumu Iwasa
Williams : 🇫🇮 Valtteri Bottas
Sauber : NC
(in italics: to be confirmed)

ALSO READ > Decryption – Is Doohan already under threat from Colapinto at Alpine ?

Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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1 Comment (s)

Yves-Henri RANDIER

15/01/2025 at 01:18 a.m.

Alpine who offers himself three, strange! The King of Cheaters Il Magnifico Flavio "Shines Wrong" has already made official in his head the replacement of Doohan by Colapinto as announced since yesterday evening by the Argentinian and South American media according to which the sponsors of TexMex are now behind the Argentinian!

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