The Ferrari young drivers academy is run in a very stable way, with few changes. The lineup of Ferrari’s junior program in 2026 includes only seven names, and among them stands out one driver who has a chance to debut in Formula 1 within a year or two.
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Ferrari did not make a special announcement outlining the racing plans of its academy members for the 2026 season. However, they regularly release information about transfers, reports, and announcements of individual drivers’ races.
History and objectives of Ferrari’s junior program
Ferrari’s junior program in this form started at the end of 2009, with Jules Bianchi as its first member. The 2026 season will be the seventeenth consecutive year the academy has been operating. Since autumn 2024, the head of the academy has been former F1 driver Jerome d’Ambrosio, who moved to Ferrari from Mercedes. Ferrari’s junior program has been operating under the name “Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy” since 2024. Many drivers have passed through it, and several have reached F1. Currently, there are four drivers who have been part of Ferrari’s program at some point: Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Charles Leclerc, and Oliver Bearman. Leclerc is the only Ferrari academy member who has joined their Formula 1 team. Most drivers from this academy continue their careers in other racing series.
Ferrari junior program lineup in 2026
Below I present the lineup of Ferrari’s junior program in 2026 in alphabetical order. Next to each name, I provide nationality and year of birth, and below, the racing series and teams they will compete for in the 2026 season. The lineup includes six male drivers and one female driver.
Noah Baglin – United Kingdom – 2012
Karting
Dino Beganovic – Sweden – 2004
FIA Formula 2 Championship – DAMS Lucal Oil
Rafael Camara – Brazil – 2005
FIA Formula 2 Championship – Invicta Racing
Alba Larsen – Denmark – 2008
UAE4 Series – Evans GP
F1 Academy – MP Motorsport
F4 British Championship –
Niccolò Maccagnani – Italy – 2010
UAE4 Series – Mumbai Falcons
Euro 4 Championship – Prema Racing
Italian F4 Championship – Prema Racing
Filippo Sala – Italy – 2011
Karting
Tuukka Taponen – Finland – 2006
FIA Formula 3 Championship – MP Motorsport
Changes in Ferrari’s junior program at the beginning of 2026
There has been relative stability in Ferrari’s academy for several years, with few drivers hired and few leaving. After the 2025 season, two female drivers left Ferrari’s academy: Aurelia Nobels and Maya Weug. Both competed in the F1 Academy with Ferrari’s support in recent years. Drivers can only compete in this series for two years, so now they must direct their careers differently. Aurelia Nobels has completely left Ferrari and plans to compete in the GB3 series. Maya Weug likely retained Ferrari’s support in some form; she has tested their GT3 car and may race there.
The academy’s numerical lineup has not changed because Ferrari now supports Alba Larsen and Niccolò Maccagnani. Larsen will compete under their banner in the F1 Academy (each F1 team must support one female driver from this series). Maccagnani is a young Italian who started racing single-seaters last year and was noticed by Ferrari.
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Overview of Ferrari’s young drivers and their prospects in 2026
Ferrari has a relatively small academy but has drivers at various stages of their junior careers. At the top is Formula 2, where two Ferrari alumni, Dino Beganovic and Rafael Camara, compete in 2026. For Beganovic, this will be his second full season in F2; he finished seventh in his first. The Swede has been an F1 test driver since 2025, with several tests and participation in F1 practice sessions. In 2026, Beganovic is teammates with Roman Biliński in F2. This season is crucial for Beganovic. He must truly impress in F2 and fight to win the series to have a chance to reach F1. Otherwise, he may continue his career in other racing series with Ferrari.
In 2026, Rafael Camara also competes in Formula 2. He can confidently be called a new star. If it weren’t for the fact that he turns 21 this year, I am sure he would be very prominent in the media. The Brazilian became Formula 3 champion in his debut season last year with a significant margin. Overall, from 2022 to 2025, he has competed in eight full seasons of various racing series and finished on the podium in seven of them. Only in 2023, in his debut in the FRECA series, did he finish fifth at the end of the season. Probably for this reason, he decided to stay in that series for another season and became champion in 2024 with a large margin over the second driver. Few drivers have such success in junior series. If he maintains his form in Formula 2 in 2026 (the start of the season suggests this), he will become Ferrari’s main junior and a candidate for an F1 debut in 2027. The problem is that Ferrari will find it hard to find him a seat, so his debut may be postponed to the 2028 season.
This season, Tuukka Taponen is fighting for his future, continuing in Formula 3, where he finished only ninth in 2025. The Finn must fight for a podium in the standings; otherwise, Ferrari will consider him too weak (unless Taponen is a paying driver). One level lower, in Formula 4, the new academy recruit Niccolò Maccagnani will compete in three different series.
Ferrari recently changed its strategy and currently has two drivers at the karting level in the academy, which was previously unthinkable for their academy, which is why Kimi Antonelli went to Mercedes. Noah Baglin and Filippo Sala are not as young as karting drivers in other academies. Alba Larsen will compete in the F1 Academy but does not limit herself to the women’s series; she competes in two others as well.
Summary of Ferrari’s junior program in 2026
In 2025, Olivier Bearman moved from Ferrari’s junior program to Haas, with a chance to eventually join the factory team. Currently, if Ferrari wanted to find a seat for their next junior in F1, they would have a problem. Haas, together with Toyota, is developing its own development program, and seats at Cadillac are taken, with other drivers waiting as reserves. This is a key issue for Rafael Camara’s potential promotion to F1, as it will be difficult for him to find a place within Ferrari’s camp. As for the rest of Ferrari’s academy, it looks fine; they have drivers at various levels of advancement.
Ferrari currently has more contracted drivers. The reserve driver in 2026 is Antonio Giovinazzi, who focuses on racing in the WEC series. Test/development drivers are Antonio Fuoco, Davide Rigon, and Arthur Leclerc, who focus on simulator work and occasionally get opportunities to test old cars or participate in practice sessions.
Junior programs of other F1 teams in 2026
Most Formula 1 teams run junior (development) programs; I will systematically discuss their lineups for the 2026 season. On the blog, you will find detailed coverage of McLaren’s program (details), Mercedes (details), Williams (details), and Red Bull (details). Currently, 11 teams compete in F1, which have nine junior programs. Red Bull has a joint program for two teams. In recent weeks, Haas launched its program in cooperation with Toyota, and Audi started a new program. The only team without a classic development program is Cadillac, but this team currently does not need one. They support Colton Herta, who is preparing for his F1 debut.
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