Super Licence points matter most when a team suddenly needs a driver, as Ferrari did at Jeddah in March 2024. Carlos Sainz needed surgery for appendicitis. Oliver Bearman, preparing for an F2 race weekend, suddenly had a Ferrari to drive.
He climbed into the SF-24 for final practice. By the following evening, the teenager had finished seventh, ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Jeddah’s concrete walls offered little room for hesitation. Ferrari needed someone who could take the seat immediately, and Bearman delivered.
That weekend exposed the serious business behind a reserve driver announcement. Fresh team kit photographs well. Simulator work helps engineers. Neither guarantees that the driver waiting outside the garage can enter a Grand Prix.
For teams choosing their 2026 reserves, the distinction starts with two numbers: 25 for one practice-only qualification route and 40 for the normal first-time race route. Between them sits a development challenge that a contract cannot solve.
The Friday Examination
A rookie’s first practice session begins with a crowded steering wheel and an engineer talking through the radio. Before chasing lap time, the driver must handle switches, traffic, tire preparation, and the team’s running plan.
Getting permission to attempt that work requires preparation long before the garage shutters rise. Under the FIA’s 2026 rules, first-time practice-only applicants can qualify through 25 Super Licence points or six completed Formula 2 events. That second option matters: an F2 driver can satisfy the sporting requirement through participation without reaching the points threshold.
The team then has to establish that its prospect can handle an F1 car. For practice-only approval, that includes substantiating 300 kilometers at racing speeds in representative machinery. The driver must complete the mileage over a maximum of two days, within the 180 days before applying, with the required certification.
Those laps give the requirement a physical meaning. A driver must manage braking loads, cockpit procedures, and repeated runs while engineers assess the work. Grade A licensing, age eligibility, a regulations assessment, and the FIA’s judgment of ability also form part of the approval process.
A Friday appearance becomes the next examination. Can the newcomer deliver the requested runs? Does the feedback describe something engineers can identify in the data? How much attention does the cockpit demand before the driver can concentrate on the next corner?
Those questions shape development. A practice-only license still does not clear the driver to race.
Every Kilometer Counts
Friday running can also strengthen a future application. Under the FIA rules, a practice-only license holder earns one additional point after completing at least 100 kilometers in a practice session, provided they receive no penalty points.
The allowance applies once per event, with a maximum contribution of 10 points toward an application. Super Licence points therefore give useful mileage a second purpose: the driver can help the engineering program while moving closer to race eligibility.
That creates an incentive to finish the planned running. A mechanical problem or interrupted session can leave a rookie short of the distance, regardless of how promising the opening laps looked. Simply appearing on the entry list earns nothing.
For the engineer watching the timing screen, the priority remains the car’s program. For the driver inside it, another completed run can carry consequences beyond the weekend.
Forty Points to the Race Seat
Bearman’s Jeddah opportunity began with an interruption to his own racing plans. Ferrari could act because he held the full license necessary to replace Sainz. The team did not have to turn a promising Friday participant into an eligible Grand Prix driver overnight.
For a younger prospect still approaching that position, the championship standings become part of the reserve-seat conversation. Formula 1’s official licensing guide sets the normal first-time threshold at 40 Super Licence points.
Imagine an F2 driver protecting third place in the championship during the closing rounds. Each of the top three finishers earns 40 points, so holding that position can settle the points requirement in one season. Fourth carries 30 points. A late retirement could therefore leave the driver relying on earlier results to complete the total.
The finish matters, but so does the career behind it. A first-time applicant must have completed at least 80% of each of two eligible single-seater seasons. The FIA also checks Grade A status and knowledge of the regulations before approving.
Age can enter the same conversation. Eighteen remains the normal minimum, although the FIA can approve an exceptional 17-year-old who demonstrates outstanding ability and maturity. A team watching a teenager’s lap times must therefore assess the driver’s eligibility alongside the promise.
Reaching 40 completes the points requirement. It does not automatically place a license in the driver’s hands.
F3 and IndyCar Feel the Squeeze
An F3 champion earns 30 points, leaving earlier eligible results or other permitted contributions to close the gap. Even the driver lifting the trophy may still have unfinished business.
Consider a prospect who finished fourth in F3, earning 15 points, then returned to challenge for the title. Winning would bring the combined total to 45, provided both results qualify within the applicable window. Before that championship settles, though, the calculation offers little comfort. A locked front tire or contact at the first corner could change which earlier results the driver needs.
For someone close to eligibility, the temptation to protect a position can compete with the need to impress. Attack the car ahead and risk losing everything earned that afternoon. Settle behind it and wonder whether caution has cost the championship finish that matters. Super Licence points can make the consequences of either choice reach into the following season.
IndyCar creates a similar tension through a different allocation. The FIA’s 2026 table awards 40 points to its champion, 30 to its runner-up, and 25 to third place. Earlier results retain the allocations that applied when the driver achieved them.
For an F1 hopeful relying on those points, a late restart can carry two calculations: the championship position available today and the eligibility it could secure tomorrow. Second and third sit beside each other on the final standings. Their five-point difference could decide whether that driver reaches 40 or spends another winter searching for a route.
Time adds another source of pressure. For a 2026 application, the FIA compares eligible totals from 2023–2025 against 2024–2026, taking the higher figure. A useful result eventually falls outside those windows.
A driver approaching that deadline must do more than replace an old number. Another season means finding a seat, securing funding, and producing the result again. While an F1 team weighs its options, the prospect chasing those final points may have far fewer choices.
Ready When the Call Comes
The difficult reserve decision comes when a team trusts a young driver’s work but cannot yet put that driver into a race. A clean practice session can strengthen confidence. It cannot supply missing approval.
For 2026 planning, that creates two questions. Who deserves development mileage? Who can replace a race driver at short notice?
One person may answer both. When they do not, the team needs another arrangement for emergency cover. Previous full-license holders have alternative qualification routes under the FIA rules, which can make an experienced substitute a different proposition from a first-time applicant chasing 40 points.
Even then, Super Licence points settle only part of the problem. Teams must check availability, prepare the cockpit, and ensure the substitute understands the car. A driver racing elsewhere may bring competitive sharpness while creating a scheduling conflict. A junior embedded in the simulator program may know the engineers yet still lack race eligibility.
Those tradeoffs explain why a reserve appointment deserves scrutiny beyond the announcement photograph. The job can combine development, practice opportunities, and emergency cover, but a team must know which duties its chosen driver can perform.
At Jeddah, Ferrari could hand Bearman the car and concentrate on helping him drive it. That remains the standard behind the paperwork. When an empty cockpit suddenly becomes the most urgent problem in the garage, can the driver wearing the team shirt actually fill it?
READ MORE: The physiological demands placed on F1 reserve drivers during race weekends
FAQs
How many Super Licence points do F1 reserve drivers need?
First-time applicants normally need 40 points for a full race license. A reserve appointment alone does not grant permission to race.
Can a driver enter F1 practice with 25 points?
Yes. First-time practice-only applicants can qualify through 25 points or six completed F2 events, but they must also meet the other FIA requirements.
Can an F1 practice driver replace a race driver?
Only with the appropriate full license and approval. A practice-only license does not permit Grand Prix participation.
Do F1 practice sessions earn Super Licence points?
Eligible practice-only license holders can earn one point per event after completing 100 kilometers in a practice session without penalty points, up to 10 points.
How many Super Licence points does an F3 champion earn?
An F3 champion earns 30 points. The driver needs other eligible points or permitted contributions to reach the normal 40-point threshold.
