How did Dino Beganovic’s career begin?

Beganovic was born in 2004 to Fikret and Mirnesa, who immigrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Sweden during the Balkan wars of the early 1990s. In the small, Swedish town of Linköping, Beganovic grew up watching F1 with his father–a petrolhead and car mechanic–and looking up to F1 legend, Michael Schumacher. Ultimately, it was Schumacher's incredible talent and impact on the sport that made Beganovic want to try racing for himself, and maybe one day drive for the Scuderia, just like his childhood hero did.

And that is what led Beganovic to begin karting in 2011, at just eight years old when his father took him to a track for the very first time. But what started out as a casual family pass time, quickly grew into something so much bigger, as Beganovic began devoting most of his weekends to the sport he loved. Speaking in an F3 interview feature, he recalled being fortunate to have a local karting track practically in his own back yard. Being just 10 minutes from his house, he spoke about what a fantastic resource it was, saying, “It’s not just tight corners, it has chicanes, high-speed sections and tricky slow corners.”

This ideal practice ground helped shape a successful karting career for him. Spending most of his time with Ward Racing, Beganovic collected seven titles and a total of 12 podium finishes as a young karter. Some of his most notable wins include the Swedish karting championships of 2018 and 2019 as well as the CIK-FIA European Championship and World Championship in 2019.

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Dino Beganovic’s single-seater success 

After nine years of karting, Beganovic seamlessly transitioned to the next tier of motorsport in 2020. He was picked up by the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy, and made his single-seater debut with Prema Powerteam at the 2020 Italian F4 Championship. His most impressive performance of the season was during the sixth round in Imola, in which he secured a hat trick of pole position, fastest lap and the top spot of the podium. Beganovic finished third overall in the season, with an impressive six podiums, and helped Prema Powerteam secure the Team Championship.

The following year, he continued racing in various regional series, splitting his time between Prema in Europe, and Mumbai Falcons Racing in Asia. His biggest success at this level came in 2022, when he finished first in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA), securing four wins overall and a grand total of 12 podiums. 

In 2023, he officially debuted in Formula 3 as a member of Prema Racing. Begonovich hit the ground running, securing himself a podium finish during the feature race of the season opener in Bahrain. In the fourth round of the year, held in Barcelona, he recorded the only retirement of his entire F3 career, after Grégoire Saucy of ART Grand Prix collided with him during the sprint race, causing a puncture that forced Beganovic to bow out early. 

But he was not to be deterred. Beganovic quickly turned things around for himself, scoring a third place on the podium during the feature race. Despite some struggles throughout the rest of the season he collected three more podiums, putting him sixth overall. 

The following year, he claimed his maiden F3 win during the 2024 Melbourne feature race, and subsequently won the Spa Francochamps sprint, once again finishing sixth overall by the season’s end.

The two wins were undoubtedly part of what paved the way for an early Formula 2 debut for Beganovic when DAMS Lucas Oil chose to finish off the last two races of the year with him behind the wheel after parting ways with Juan Manuel Correa. On this opportunity, Beganovic said, “This feels like the natural next step in my career, and I’m ready for the challenge in an extremely competitive championship. My aim for these two races is to learn as much as possible and to be scoring points in my first F2 action in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.”

Indeed, Beganovic adapted quickly to the jump from F3 into F2, finishing in the top 10 of every sprint and feature race he took part in. Even more impressively, he secured a third place podium during the 2024 Abu Dhabi sprint, making it a spectacular, attention-grabbing entrance into the field for the young rookie.

For the 2025 F2 season, Beganovic is racing with Hitech TGR, alongside Luke Browning from the UK. He has already been on the podium twice, coming in third during the Bahrain sprint as well as the Imola feature race. How the full season will shape out remains to be seen, but Beganovic is always ready with a plan. From the very beginning of his racing career, he has talked about the importance of consistency, citing it as one of the key factors that led him to his various championship titles. So if he can stay consistent and keep up excellent results in F2, it seems like only a matter of time before we see Beganovic secure a full-time spot in the big leagues.

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When will Dino Beganovic be in F1?

At eight years old, a young Beganovic stepped into a go-kart for the first time ever, dreaming of one day becoming like his hero, Schumacher, and representing Ferrari on the F1 grid one day. And at the age of 21, that very opportunity came around not once, but twice in one year. 

Beganovic made his F1 debut during FP1 of the Bahrain Grand Prix during the 2025 season, a mere five months after stepping up into an F2 car for the first time. And he had some pretty big shoes to fill. “I'm taking Charles' place, and I'm driving next to Lewis Hamilton, in a Ferrari. If you told me six months ago I would be doing that, in my deepest moments in F3, I would have never believed that,” he said about the chance. 

Since Bahrain, Beganovic has spoken many times about what it was like working alongside Leclerc, another racing hero of his. Leclerc’s journey towards F1 is one that resonates very much and, in a chat with N1 BiH, Beganovic described the Ferrari icon as being genuine and always willing to chat or give advice. Outside of the track, the two spend time together on the Ferrari simulator, with Beganovic taking the opportunity to learn as much as he can from such an accomplished mentor.

Beganovic put that mentorship into practice when Ferrari entrusted him once again to step up to the helm during FP1 of the Austrian Grand Prix. The pressure was on him to provide the invaluable on-track data that teams collect from FP1, and from which they make for all subsequent sessions. Despite some technical problems with the car, Beganovic was able to get out on track and put down some solid laps to hopefully get the team what they needed.

That Beganovic, who was in the middle of just his first full year as an F2 driver, found himself on the F1 grid twice in the span of just two and a half months speaks highly to Ferrari’s belief in him. Combining what he has learned from these experiences and from speaking with Leclerc, and using it consistently to achieve success will prepare him to soon join the F1 world.

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Dino Beganovic’s life outside of racing

Any athlete will tell you that a big part of professional sports is recovery and taking time to unplug. When he is not racing, Beganovic has spoken fondly of the easy-going life that his hometown, Linköping, offers. Like any other twenty-something-year-old, he loves spending time with his friends, and a game of padel or a round of golf with them is always a welcome break from the racing life. Golf especially has become one of his biggest passions, and he has devoted much of his YouTube channel to videos about the sport.

Beganovic is also a bit of a foodie. He is particularly fond of Asian cuisine, lauding the options available in Sweden. With his Slavic background, he also loves Bosnian food, including the classics burek (minced meat pie) and ćevapi (mixed meat sausage); but, of course, nothing beats his mother’s cooking. 

And living in Europe–especially in Italy, where he made a homebase for himself while driving with Prema–who could resist falling in love with coffee culture? In 2024, he spoke about one of the goals he has for when he is spending time back home in Sweden. “I’ve always got something for trying out new cafes in my city, coffee shops as well. So I’m trying to find the best coffee shop in the city, that’s my mission at the moment,” he said.

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A well-rounded prospect

All in all, Beganovic is a young gun with loads of potential. His successes in F3 led to a fast-track into F2, which led to an even faster track into F1’s orbit. He has gotten his foot in the door now, and with two chances in one year to show his stuff, he is definitely looking to smash it open and pave the way towards his dream of being a full-time F1 driver. From here on out, things are in his hands, but we will undoubtedly be seeing more of Dino Beganovic in the future.