With Formula 1 still not on for a bit (even though it won’t be too far away by the time this article comes out), I had to do a lot of thinking as to what I could write about. Now, after a conversation the other day with a few people about McLaren’s “ever-growing” Driver Academy, it gave me an idea! See, a lot of Formula 1 Teams have a couple of Reserve Drivers, or at least one, with the potential to call drivers up from their Academy’s if needed. Because of this, I went through all 10 F1 Teams’ Reserve/Academy Drivers to create a “Reserve Driver Championship”! Now, think of this as everyone having equal cars because otherwise I might as well not talk about the lower teams, but yeah, this is why today’s debate is “Which Team Would Win in a Reserve Driver Championship?” Oh and one last thing, I’ve not included drivers that are going to be in F1 next year, so that’s why Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli won’t appear!
McLaren: Pato O’Ward and Gabriel Bortoleto
Let’s start with the current Constructors’ Championship leaders McLaren, who field a pretty strong lineup of Pato O’Ward and Gabriel Bortoleto! Firstly, Pato O’Ward is a 25-year-old Mexican racing driver who currently drives for Arrow McLaren in IndyCar! Pato previously finished second in the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship, and his biggest achievement came when he was crowned as the 2018 Indy Lights Champion! When it comes to IndyCar, O’Ward has had 5-full seasons in the series, winning 7 times and achieving a highest Championship finish of 3rd (in 2021)! In fact, O’Ward has finished inside the Top 5 (in the Standings) in 4 of those 5 seasons which is pretty mega, and he finished P4 this year!
As for his teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto is a 20-year-old Brazilian racing driver who currently drives for Invicta Racing in FIA Formula 2! Gabriel’s biggest achievement so far came when he FIA Formula 3 last year in what was his first full season under Fernando Alonso’s management team! Currently, Bortoleto is leading the FIA Formula 2 Championship in his Rookie Season which is also pretty damn impressive!
In conclusion, McLaren already look like they’re going to be tough to beat!
Red Bull: Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa
Red Bull lineup with the less experienced duo of Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa! Firstly, Isack Hadjar is a 20-year-old French-Algerian racing driver who currently drives for Campos Racing in FIA Formula 2. Isack has previously finished third in both the 2020 French F4 (remember that) and 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championships, and he also finished 4th in his one and only year in Formula 3! Currently, Hadjar is second in FIA Formula 2, having won 4 Races so far this year! Isack Hadjar is quick, there is no doubt about that!
As for his teammate, Ayumu Iwasa is a 23-year-old Japanese racing driver who currently drives for Team Mugen in Super Formula! Ayumu previously finished inside the Top 5 in both of his two seasons in Formula 2 (5th in 2022, 4th in 2023), and his biggest achievement so far came when he won the 2020 French F4 Championship (and by a very long way too)! Currently, Iwasa is 4th in Super Formula, having scored three P2 finishes in the 7 Races! Ayumu Iwasa is a capable driver, I actually feel a bit sorry for him that he didn’t get a sniff at the AlphaTauri seat last year.
In conclusion, Red Bull have themselves a decent lineup, but probably not as strong as they might’ve hoped!
Ferrari: Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman
Now this is an interesting lineup as Antonio Giovinazzi returns to Formula 1 to partner Robert Shwartzman at Ferrari! Firstly, Antonio Giovinazzi is a 30-year-old Italian racing driver who currently drives for Ferrari AF Corse in the World Endurance Championship! Antonio previously finished second in both Formula 3 (2015) and GP2 (2016), he drove 3 full seasons for Alfa Romeo in Formula 1 (scoring 21 points), and his biggest achievement so far came when he won the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans Race! Currently, Giovinazzi and his teammates are 8th in WEC, having scored 1 Podium all season. I’d say Antonio Giovinazzi’s career has been very up and down, but he won Le Mans, and that’s pretty special!
As for his teammate, Robert Shwartzman is a 25-year-old Russo-Israeli racing driver who currently drives for AF Corse in the World Endurance Championship! Robert previously finished second in Formula 2 in 2021, and his biggest achievements so far came when he won the 2018 Toyota Racing Series as well as the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship! Currently, Shwartzman and his teammates are 9th in WEC, but they did manage to win at COTA! I actually think Robert Shwartzman is another (he won’t be the last in this article) good example of a driver who deserved a spot in Formula 1, but the opportunity just never came to him!
In conclusion, whilst it’s not exactly the most flamboyant driver lineup for Ferrari, they are both winners!
Mercedes: Mick Schumacher and Frederik Vesti
Mercedes lineup with 2 former Prema stars as Mick Schumacher returns to F1 alongside Frederik Vesti! Firstly, Mick Schumacher is a 25-year-old German racing driver who currently drives for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship! Mick previously finished second in both ADAC and Italian Formula 4 (both in 2016), he spent 2 years in Formula 1 with Haas (scoring 12 points), and his biggest achievements so far came when he won both the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European and 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championships! Currently, Schumacher and his teammates are 18th in WEC, but they did finish on the Podium in their last outing at Fuji! The thing with Mick Schumacher is he had a good Junior Formula career, but his F1 stint was underwhelming to say the least (it doesn’t matter how good his car was).
As for his teammate, Frederik Vesti is a 22-year-old Danish racing driver who currently drives for Cool Racing in ELMS! Frederik previously finished second in Formula 2 last year, and his biggest achievement so far came when he won the 2019 Formula Regional European Championship (by 131 points)! Currently, Vesti is 15th in ELMS having scored 1 Podium all season (at the Circuit Paul Ricard)! I like Fred Vesti, I thought he was very good in F2 last year, but unfortunately, no seats in F1 were available for him!
In conclusion, Mercedes have a decent lineup, but is it enough for them to win overall, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
Aston Martin: Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne
Aston Martin field a Championship-winning lineup in the form of Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne! Firstly, Felipe Drugovich is a 24-year-old Brazilian racing driver who currently drives for Vector Sport in ELMS! Felipe has had many big achievements, winning the 2017/18 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Title, the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship, and of course the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship! As always with Drugovich, I have to mention the fact that he won those 3 Titles by an average gap of 113.66 points which is absolutely ridiculous! Currently, Drugo is 14th in ELMS having scored 1 Podium finish (a P3 in Imola). I think Felipe Drugovich is great, and it still annoys me that he never got a shot in F1!
As for his teammate, Stoffel Vandoorne is a 32-year-old Belgian racing driver who currently drives for Maserati MSG in ABB FIA Formula E and Peugeot in the World Endurance Championship! Stoffel has had a strong career up to this point, winning the 2010 F4 Eurocup (1.6), the 2012 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the 2015 GP2 Series, and in 2022 he became the second-ever ABB FIA Formula E World Champion! Currently, Vandoorne has signed for Maserati MSG after finishing 10th with DS Penske in Season 10 (of Formula E), and he’s currently 26th in WEC! It’s also worth mentioning that Stoffel Vandoorne has nearly won Le Mans and he spent two years with McLaren in Formula 1, but that disappointing stint has hurt his resume a bit!
In conclusion, Aston Martin look like a front-running team with Drugovich and Vandoorne onboard!
Visa Cash App RB: Pepe Marti and Arvid Lindblad
With Red Bull owning 2 teams, it means they can field more of their youngsters as Pepe Marti and Arvid Lindblad step up for Visa Cash App RB! Firstly, Pepe Marti is a 19-year-old Spanish racing driver who currently drives for Campos Racing in FIA Formula 2! Pepe previously finished third in the 2021 Spanish F4 Championship, second in the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship (in what was a pretty decent field), and he also finished 5th in Formula 3 last year! Currently, Marti is only 16th in Formula 2, with 2 of his 3 Podiums coming in the season opener in Bahrain! Based on his previous performances, this year will probably be seen as a bit of a disappointment for Pepe Marti!
As for his teammate, Arvid Lindblad is a 17-year-old British-Swedish racing driver who drove for Prema Racing in FIA Formula 3 this year! Arvid previously finished third in Italian F4 last year, he won the 2023 Macau Formula 4 Race, and he finished 4th in his first-ever season in Formula 3 this year! That F3 Season was actually quite exceptional, even though I did accidentally curse him as Lindblad didn’t score a single point after I put him on the cover of my “Up-and-Coming Drives Article”! Anyway, Arvid Lindblad looks like a super promising prospect, and he will drive for Campos Racing in F2 next year!
In conclusion, this feels like a proper Red Bull Junior Team!
Haas: Pietro Fittipaldi and Chloe Chambers
Haas field a very “out-there” lineup in the form of Pietro Fittipaldi and Chloe Chambers! Firstly, Pietro Fittipaldi is a 28-year-old Brazilian racing driver who currently drives for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in IndyCar! Some of Pietro’s biggest achievements include winning the 2014 Protyre Formula Renault Championship, the 2015/16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Title, and the 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 Championship! Currently, Fittipaldi just recently finished 19th in this year’s IndyCar Series! For those who maybe don’t remember, Pietro Fittipaldi did actually drive for Haas (in F1) a couple of times at the end of 2020, and I actually don’t think he did too bad!
As for his teammate, Chloe Chambers is a 20-year-old American racing driver who currently drives for Campos Racing in F1 Academy! Chloe has previously raced in series such as W Series, the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, and the Porsche Sprint Challenge (North America). Currently, Chambers is having her best year in racing as she sits 4th in F1 Academy after winning in Catalunya! In fact, Chloe Chambers has done that well, she’s been signed to represent Red Bull Ford in 2025!
In conclusion, whilst it’s a cool lineup, it’s not exactly a great one for Haas!
Williams: Jamie Chadwick and Zak O’Sullivan
Williams field an all-British lineup in the form of Jamie Chadwick and Zak O’Sullivan! Firstly, Jamie Chadwick is a 26-year-old British racing driver who currently drives for Andretti Global in Indy NXT! Jamie has had a successful career up to this point, winning the 2015 British GT4 Championship, the 2018/19 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Title, and she’s also a 3-time W Series Champion (the only Champion in that series in fact)! Currently, Chadwick has recently finished 7th in Indy NXT this year, having made history by winning at Road America, and she ended up third out of the 4 Andretti Drivers! Whilst it was a shame that Jamie Chadwick never got a shot in F2 or F3, it’s cool to see her racing in the States!
As for her teammate, Zak O’Sullivan is a 19-year-old British racing driver who is currently without a seat after leaving ART a month ago (due to funding issues). Zak has previously finished second in Ginetta Junior (2019), British F4 (2020), and FIA Formula 3 (2023), but his biggest achievement came when he won the 2021 GB3 Championship! O’Sullivan also won the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award back in 2021! Currently, O’Sullivan sits 14th in Formula 2, but he’s unable to see out the rest of the season due to not having enough funding. It’s a massive shame for Zak because he’s won 2 Races this year, but whether he has the money or not, no one can deny that the talent is there!
In conclusion, I quite like Williams’ lineup, it’s not close to challenging right at the front, but it’s still a good one!
Alpine: Victor Martins and Gabriele Mini
Just like their actual lineup, Alpine have a competitive pairing of Victor Martins and Gabriele Mini! Firstly, Victor Martins is a 23-year-old French-Portuguese racing driver who currently drives for ART Grand Prix in FIA Formula 2! Victor previously finished second in French F4 (2017) and the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019 (he was just 7 and a half points off Champion Oscar Piastri), but his crowning moments came when he won the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup Title as well as the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship! Currently, Martins is 8th in his second season in Formula 2, having won the Rookie of the Year Award last year! I really rate Victor Martins, I think he’s very good, but ultimately, him not being a Championship contender this year has probably cost him a shot at getting the real-life Alpine seat for 2025!
As for his teammate, Gabriele Mini is a 19-year-old Italian racing driver who drove for Prema Racing in FIA Formula 3 this year! Gabriele previously finished second in the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship, and his crowning moment came when he won Italian F4 back in 2020! Currently, Mini is off the back of finishing as the runner-up in this year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship, and he also managed to achieve a Podium in his Rookie outing in F2! Gabriele Mini has a pattern of being pretty good in his second season, so watch out for him in 2026!
In conclusion, Alpine’s lineup looks quick, and I like quick!
Kick Sauber: Theo Pourchaire and Zane Maloney
With level performance, Kick Sauber go from being by far the worst team in Formula 1 to a genuine contender to win the whole thing! Firstly, Theo Pourchaire is a 21-year-old French racing driver who has competed in both IndyCar and Super Formula this year! Theo has previously finished second in both Formula 3 and Formula 2 (2020 and 2022 respectively), but his crowning moments came when he won ADAC Formula 4 in 2019 and the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship! Currently, Pourchaire isn’t driving full-time, but he has raced for Arrow McLaren in IndyCar and Team Impul in Super Formula! Alongside Jack Doohan, Theo Polechaire is my favourite young driver, I think he’s fantastic, and I actually think it’s a robbery that Theo hasn’t gotten a shot in F1 given how his Junior career went!
As for his teammate, Zane Maloney is a 21-year-old Barbadian racing driver who has recently signed to drive for ABT Yamaha Lola in Season 11 of ABB FIA Formula E! Zane previously finished second in Formula 3 in 2022, but he was crowned as the F4 British Champion in 2019! Currently, Maloney has left Formula 2 to prepare for his new career with ABT in Formula E, but he is still third in the F2 Standings with 2 Rounds to go! Zane Maloney is another talented driver, he’s been a Championship contender in every junior level which is pretty good going!
In conclusion, this might actually be a better lineup for Kick Sauber than what they currently have (no offence Valtteri)!
Final Verdict
After going over all 10 Teams, I think McLaren would just have enough to be crowned Champions in the Reserve Driver Championship! I just feel like they have the perfect pairing because Pato O’Ward is a super experienced IndyCar driver whilst Gabriel Bortoleto looks on to go and win F3 and F2 back-to-back which is really only done by the special ones! Honestly, there are definetly some weaker teams here, and I don’t feel like Mercedes or Ferrari would be quite about to fight for the Title! Red Bull and Alpine have good lineups, but even then I don’t think they’re contenders, and honestly, the only ones I could really see challenging McLaren are Kick Sauber and Aston Martin! Unfortunately for them, green isn’t exactly a winning colour!
My Overall Rankings:
P1: McLaren
P2: Aston Martin
P3: Kick Sauber
P4: Red Bull
P5: Mercedes
P6: Ferrari
P7: Alpine
P8: Williams
P9: Visa Cash App RB
P10: Haas
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