Who Is Dino Beganovic? The Story of the Swedish-Bosnian Driver Ferrari Chose to Be the Next Great Formula 1 Talent

DINO BEGANOVIC: THE SWEDE FERRARI CHOSE FOR THE FUTURE

Few organisations in world motorsport have a sharper eye for talent than the Ferrari Driver Academy. From its facilities in Maranello have emerged drivers like Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll, and today one of the academy’s most committed bets carries the name of Dino Beganovic. A surname that echoes the history of eastern Europe, a Swedish flag on the helmet, and a talent that the Scuderia decided to protect and develop from the moment the young driver was just 16 years old.

Dino Beganovic was born on January 19, 2004 in Landeryd, Sweden. His parents, Fikret and Mirnesa, had emigrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Sweden during the Balkan conflicts of the early 1990s, seeking stability and a better future for their family. They settled in Linköping, a mid-sized city in southern Sweden, where Dino grew up with his younger brother Emir. From childhood, the Beganovic household ran on petrol: his father, a car enthusiast and mechanic by trade, lit the spark in his son that would never go out. One of Dino’s childhood heroes was Michael Schumacher, the German driver who won five of his seven world titles with Ferrari. The ambition took shape early: one day, he too would race for the Scuderia.

Karting arrived in 2011, when Dino was just seven years old and his father took him to a local kart track that had the enormous advantage of being just ten minutes from home. What began as a family weekend activity grew in intensity until it became a full time vocation. Beganovic was fortunate to grow up near a facility that offered every kind of layout: chicanes, high-speed sections, slow technical corners. That varied learning environment shaped a complete driver from a very young age.

His progression through karting was systematic and successful. He won the Swedish OK Junior championship in 2018, and in 2019 swept the national titles in the OK category in both Sweden and Italy while also finishing second in the WSK Euro Series. That same year, his performances attracted the attention of those who search for talent at the summit of the sport: the Ferrari Driver Academy signed him at the start of 2020, making him one of the youngest entries in the prestigious academy’s history.

His single seater debut also came in 2020, in the Italian Formula 4 Championship with Prema Powerteam, the Italian team with which Ferrari maintains a long development relationship. The transition from karting to formula cars demands adaptation, but Beganovic navigated it with striking speed: he took his first pole position in the second round of the season and his first victory at the demanding Imola circuit. He finished third in the overall standings.

In 2021 he stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA), again with Prema, taking two victories and a pole position. The consistency shown was enough to return to the same series in 2022 with a more ambitious goal: winning the title. And he achieved it brilliantly, with 13 podiums and four victories across the season, becoming the 2022 FRECA champion in a campaign that left no doubt about his quality.

The 2023 and 2024 seasons were spent in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing, one of the most competitive teams in the junior ladder. He finished sixth in the standings in both years, accumulating nine podiums with two victories included. They were seasons of solid learning, of understanding the demands of a category that is already a direct antechamber to Formula 2.

At the end of 2024 came his first Formula 2 opportunity when DAMS Lucas Oil brought him in to replace Juan Manuel Correa for the final two rounds of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In just his third race in the category, he finished third in the Yas Marina sprint race a result that spoke clearly about his adaptation speed. That debut was his calling card.

For 2025 he joined Hitech TGR for his first full Formula 2 season, finishing seventh in the championship with a first victory in Baku and several podiums. He also made history that year by completing two Formula 1 free practice sessions: one at the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix substituting for Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, and another in Austria. Driving a Formula 1 Ferrari had ceased to be a childhood dream and become a professional reality.

In 2026 he returned to DAMS Lucas Oil for his second full Formula 2 season, with the clear objective of establishing himself as a genuine championship contender. His role within the Ferrari Driver Academy has also grown: he participates actively in Ferrari’s simulator programme, contributing to the development of the current season’s car. The Scuderia now treats him not only as a prospect but as part of the technical team.

Beganovic speaks Swedish, Bosnian, English and Italian fluently four languages that perfectly reflect his personal history and the cosmopolitan world he has inhabited since his arrival in top-level motorsport. He is 22 years old in 2026 and has his entire career ahead of him.

Away from the car, Dino Beganovic is known in the paddock for his professional seriousness and his calm demeanour away from the track. He maintains an active social media presence where he shares his daily life and Ferrari Academy moments, always with a reserved profile that contrasts with the authority he projects behind the wheel. His friendship with Gabriel Bortoleto, the Brazilian who won the 2024 F2 title and now competes in Formula 1 with Sauber, is one of the paddock’s most well-known bonds. The two became friends as karting teammates and have maintained that closeness across the years.

Dino Beganovic’s dream is the same as that of every driver who passes through the Ferrari Driver Academy: to reach Formula 1 and to do so with the Scuderia. With Leclerc and Hamilton as race drivers in 2026 and beyond, timing plays an important role. But Maranello does not choose its protégés by chance, and the investment made in Beganovic says everything about what they think of his future.

Do you think Dino Beganovic has the speed and character to reach Formula 1 with Ferrari, or is the path from F2 to a Scuderia seat too complex in the current landscape?

IMPORTANT QUOTES AND CURIOSITIES

“I am very happy to return to DAMS for another season in F2. I felt an immediate connection with the team, both on a professional and human level.” — Dino Beganovic
“It was a dream to drive a Formula 1 car, but now it is always a different joy, especially when it is a Ferrari. Being part of this is special.” — Dino Beganovic

CURIOSITIES

• His parents emigrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Sweden during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
• His childhood idol was Michael Schumacher, who won five titles with Ferrari.
• He started karting at the age of 7 on a track just 10 minutes from his home in Linköping.
• He speaks four languages: Swedish, Bosnian, English and Italian.
• He was signed by the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2020, at just 16 years old.
• He completed two free practice sessions in Formula 1 in 2025, both in an official Ferrari.
• His first F2 victory came in Baku in 2025, in the sprint race.
• He is a close friend of Gabriel Bortoleto, F2 2024 champion and now an F1 driver.
• He participates in Ferrari’s simulator program as part of the development of the current car.

Sources: Ferrari Official ferrari.com, FIA Formula 2 Official fiaformula2.com, Dino Beganovic Official dinoracing.se, Formula Scout formulascout.com, Pit Debrief pitdebrief.com, Motorsport Week motorsportweek.com, Liquipedia liquipedia.net, Fanamp fanamp.com, Wikipedia f1.fandom.com