Oliver Bearman has been confirmed to be racing a few months early for Haas F1 at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku, Haas announced Sept. 6.
Bearman will serve as a substitute for Kevin Magnussen, who has been banned by the FIA for one race due to accumulating too many penalty points on his super license in a 12-month period.
Magnussen will return at Singapore the next week to close out the year.
This won’t be the final time Bearman will drive for Haas. The Brit will race for them starting next season while maintaining his allegiance to Ferrari, which provides engines for the American team. He will be joined at the team by Esteban Ocon, who currently races for Alpine.
“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year,” Bearman said in a team release. “I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku.
“The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”
“I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico [Hulkenberg] in Baku,” Ayao Komatsu, Haas team principal, added. “He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test. … This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”
Due to replacing Carlos Sainz in an emergency situation earlier this season at Abu Dhabi for Ferrari, Bearman currently sits 15th in F1 standings, with one start and six points. In Formula 2, Bearman is 14th in points.
Haas is seventh in F1 constructor standings with 28 points. The team’s other reserve driver, Pietro Fittipaldi, is committed that weekend to racing in the NTT IndyCar Series season finale.
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