What Lewis Hamilton was ‘caught out by’ during Bahrain practice that Dino Beganovic nailed on his Ferrari FP1 debut

Ferrari haven’t had the strongest start to the season and used the Bahrain Grand Prix to roll out their first update package of the year.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc haven’t been overly happy with the SF-25, but last weekend produced their most promising performance of 2025.

Ferrari delivered four new parts in Bahrain, and they helped the team score 22 points, helping them close the gap to Red Bull above them in the constructors’ championship.

Friday’s practice session gave Hamilton his first opportunity to test the update package, but on the other side of the garage, Leclerc made way for Formula 2 star Dino Beganovic.

Beganovic was considered as an option to be Ferrari’s reserve driver this year, but team principal Fred Vasseur instead opted for Antonio Giovinazzi and Zhou Guanyu.

However, the 21-year-old Swedish and Bosnian driver impressed on his practice debut for the team, getting up to speed even faster than Hamilton in one area.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

How Dino Beganovic impressed alongside Lewis Hamilton during the Bahrain Grand Prix

Journalist Edd Straw was speaking on The Race F1 Podcast about FP1 in Bahrain were six rookies took to the track.

He was asked which of the rookies impressed the most during the one-hour session where conditions were particularly difficult and replied: “With the caveat that I am basing this primarily on watching trackside for FP1, which I did at turn nine and 10, and also FP1 was one of the lowest grip dry sessions that you could ever hope to see, there were calls all over the shop, the driver that impressed me most was Dino Beganovic in the Ferrari, he was in Charles Leclerc’s car.

“Now, I do have to say that he was a pretty inexperienced one, so, it’s easier for him to catch the eye, simply because if you’ve got someone like Felipe Drugovich in the Aston Martin, he’s done quite a bit of this, so, you know what he’s going to do.

“What I liked about Beganovic, was that is in those horrible conditions, and Lewis Hamilton was getting caught out at times early in the session, Beganovic kept it under control and crucially, he learned and he adapted and you could see him experimenting and changing a little bit what he was doing within the realms of doing the program that Ferrari needed him to do.

“I just had the impression that Beganovic was reasonably well on top of it, and doing what was needed, and experimenting with driving when he could.”

Straw also pointed out that Luke Browning in the Williams looked ‘tidier than [Alex] Albon’, but was hampered by the program he had been set for the hour-long session.

Ryo Hirakawa, Ayumu Iwasa, Frederik Vesti and Felipe Drugovich were the other reserves given an opportunity for Haas, Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston Martin respectively.

READ MORE: Who is Dino Beganovic ahead of the Ferrari junior’s FP1 debut in Bahrain? Age, nationality, stats and more

What are Dino Beganovic’s chances of earning a Formula 1 race seat in 2026?

Straw then went on to talk about which rookie has the best chance of making it to F1 in the next year, and continued: “Best shot of making it to F1 in the next year or two, in a full time drive? Maybe it’s Beganovic.

“I wouldn’t say any of the six of them are in a brilliant position to do it, to be honest.

“So, maybe Beganovic, not with Ferrari but perhaps he’s a driver who could end up being placed somewhere that wants a rookie, maybe even Cadillac, perhaps? Who knows.

“But I wouldn’t say any of them have a stunning, dead-cert chance of getting it, but I’m interested to see how Beganovic does.”

Beganovic does face an incredibly difficult task trying to break into Formula 1 as a Ferrari junior driver.

Hamilton and Leclerc aren’t going anywhere in the immediate future, and when one of them does decide to move on, Oliver Bearman is being closely watched by Ferrari to step into one of their seats.

Cadillac using Ferrari power units next season does give Beganovic one potential route onto the grid, but he needs to do something extraordinary in Formula 2 this year to grab their attention.