Photo: Haas F1 Team
The Haas Formula 1 team has announced it will promote its reserve driver Ollie Bearman to a race seat for 2025, with the 19-year-old handed a multi-year contract.
Bearman is currently in his sophomore Formula 2 campaign, and although he won last weekend at the Red Bull Ring he sits a lowly 14th in the standings with an average of two points per race in the season’s first half.
“It’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me. To say out loud that I will be a F1 driver for Haas makes me so immensely proud,” said Bearman.
“To be one of the very few people who get to do the thing what they dreamed of as a child is something truly incredible. To Gene [Haas], Ayao [Komatsu, team principal] and everyone at Haas, thank you for believing in me and for trusting me to represent your team.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with everyone since the first time we met in Mexico and I can’t wait to enjoy this moment with them and hopefully many more in the future.”
Bearman came sixth in F2 last year with four wins, and was third in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship. He started his car racing career with two years in Formula 4, winning the ADAC and Italian championships, and before F3 he also did part-time GB3 and Formula Regional Asian Championship campaigns which resulted in a win in the former and podium in the latter.
The Briton joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in November 2021 after contesting its Scouting World Final, and did his first F1 running at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track last October. Later in the month he made his free practice debut with Haas at the Mexico City Grand Prix, and drove for them again in FP1 at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
This January he landed the reserve driver role at Ferrari, with the same position at Haas following in February. Since then he has made his F1 race debut with the former, substituting for the ill Carlos Sainz Jr at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and scoring six points by finishing seventh, then driving in FP1 at the Emilia Romagna and Spanish grands prix for the latter. He is currently 14th in the F1 standings.
Haas’s eponymous team owner Gene Haas commented: “I’m pleased we’ve been able to give Oliver Bearman this opportunity to drive full-time in F1 – he’s undoubtedly an exciting rookie prospect, not just based on what he showed in Saudi Arabia but also through his time developing his relationship with our team.
“I’m personally excited to see how he grows as a driver, and we look forward to seeing him deliver for Haas next season and beyond. This is an exciting time for the team. Oliver’s signing shows we continue to invest in talent – both on and off-track – as we continue to compete at the highest level.”