The “major contributor” behind Bearman securing Haas F1 drive

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.

“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….