Oliver Bearman says his Ferrari cameo at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was a “major contributor” to his 2025 Formula 1 seat at Haas, amid his tough Formula 2 season.
Bearman was announced last week as one of the American squad’s race drivers for the upcoming F1 campaign, when he will make his full-time debut in the championship.
The announcement had been in the pipeline for a while, and seemingly nobody was less surprised than current Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, whose F1 future is at risk.
“I’ve known it for four months, pretty much,” said the Dane, whose current team-mate Nico Hulkenberg is moving to Sauber next year. “I mean, it hasn’t been decided for four months, but I knew that was what was going to happen. So it’s not news to me.”
Four months ago was when Ferrari protégé Bearman got a chance to showcase his ability, as Carlos Sainz was struck by appendicitis at Jeddah.
Becoming the third youngest driver in F1 history, aged 18, the Briton impressed in the SF-24, qualifying eleventh and scoring important points for the Scuderia with seventh in a mistake-free race – which he believes was crucial to securing his 2025 seat at Haas.
“I think Saudi showed what I was capable of, showed that rookies and people with lack of experience aren’t really so far behind the normal cohort,” Bearman said at the British Grand Prix.
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24 battles with Oliver Bearman, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“I think I did put a good showing for myself in Saudi, and of course, with the F2 campaign going the way it is, it’s hard to ignore that.
“I still felt that I could do a good job in the free practices, but let’s say I’m happy that Saudi happened because I think it’s a major contributor to why I’m here right now.”
While Bearman took sixth in F2 to be the second-best rookie last year – just behind Victor Martins, despite being four years younger – his 2024 campaign is not panning out as hoped.
The Prema driver was forced to withdraw from the Jeddah round after taking pole position, following his call-up by Ferrari, and has since struggled for one-lap pace; qualifying on the front two rows just once more in the first eight rounds.
Races haven’t been much better for the now-19-year-old. He was involved in collisions at Bahrain, Melbourne and Silverstone, was struck by technical issues at Sakhir and Red Bull Ring, crashed out in Monaco and suffered a nightmare pitstop when leading at Imola. He also had a dismal 21st in the Barcelona sprint race.
“I feel like I’m performing at a higher level than ever, then I get to Barcelona, and I literally finish last. Last year, I won the race by [three] seconds,” he emphasised.
“I don’t have an answer yet. I hope that I can put the inconsistency down to something else rather than myself, because I honestly feel like I’m performing as high as I ever have – which makes sense, because I’m the most experienced that I’ve ever been.”
Sitting 13th in the drivers’ championship, Bearman admits to struggling with the Dallara F2 2024’s required driving style.
Oliver Bearman, Prema Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“Especially when I’m doing [F1] free practices, it’s really hard when the balance of the car is also changing from session to session,” he added, having taken part in three FP1 sessions with Haas.
This led him to clarify that he tends to “get on a bit better with F1”, and this running helped paint him in a positive light at Ferrari and Haas.
“I do feel like the F1 running carried a lot of weight,” he said. “But there’s no way of hiding behind the fact that in F2 it continues to be a little bit difficult. That always leaves a bit of a question mark in the back of your mind.”
Bearman’s sole podium finish so far in 2024 has been his win in the Austrian sprint race, a rare ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy campaign – occurring just five days before he was announced by Haas.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time, honestly,” he admitted. “It’s continuing to be a difficult season in F2, because even on Sunday [at Red Bull Ring], I had an engine failure. It felt like all that hard work was almost down the drain.
“It came at a really good time, a really important time – not only for my prospects with F1 but also for the team, because in Formula 2 we needed a good result to bolster the motivation of everyone, and that really helped us out.”
Bearman is now aspiring to follow in Charles Leclerc’s footsteps by earning a promotion to the Scuderia as early as his sophomore season.
“I hope so! That would be the dream,” he concluded.
“It’s not really in my hands, I feel like all I can do is perform at my best.”
Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble and Jake Boxall-Legge