Oliver Bearman will start a multi-year contract with Haas in the 2025 F1 season; British driver impressed on his F1 debut as a stand-in for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian GP; watch every session of the British Grand Prix this week live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Showcase
Thursday 4 July 2024 12:23, UK
British teenager Oliver Bearman will be a permanent fixture on the 2025 Formula 1 grid after signing a multi-year contract with Haas.
The 19-year-old Ferrari Academy driver made a hugely impressive F1 debut for the Italian team when standing in for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March.
Bearman's signing with Haas had appeared likely since the team announced at the start of the season that he would feature in six practice sessions for them during the 2024 campaign, the third of which will take place at this weekend's British Grand Prix.
"It's hard to put into words just how much this means to me," Bearman said. "To say out loud that I will be a Formula 1 driver for Haas makes me so immensely proud.
"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."
Bearman was signed to the Ferrari Driver Academy in November 2021, following the likes of current Scuderia driver Charles Leclerc in receiving practice outings for Haas through the teams' long-standing relationship.
Along with serving as a reserve driver for Ferrari during the 2024 F1 season, Bearman is competing in his second Formula 2 campaign.
He collected his first win of the season in the Sprint event in Austria last weekend, adding to the four victories he claimed for Prema Racing last year.
Prior to reaching the F2 grid in 2023, Bearman won the 2021 Italian F4 Championship and 2021 ADAC F4 Championship, and competed in the Formula 3 Championship in 2022.
"It's an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula 1," Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said. "He's developed into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw that for themselves when he was called in at the last minute to compete at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
"Oliver proved he was more than ready for the task, and we've seen that for ourselves running him in the Haas cars in our FP1 sessions over the past two seasons. We're looking forward to further developing him as a driver and reaping the benefits of his talent - both inside and outside of the car.
"Oliver's a great guy and a very welcome addition to the team when he joins us for the FP1 weekends. Now we know that relationship is going to be longer term, it's a positive thing for all concerned."
Bearman's team-mate for the 2025 season has yet to be confirmed, with incumbent Kevin Magnussen fighting to remain at Haas, while Nico Hulkenberg has already agreed a deal to drive for Sauber in 2025, before the team transitions to Audi the following season.
Outgoing Alpine driver Esteban Ocon is among those to have been linked to Haas, while Sauber's Valtteri Bottas is also seeking a 2025 seat.
Confirmation of Bearman's signing leaves just six seats unconfirmed on the 2025 grid, with Mercedes, RB, Alpine, Williams, Sauber and Haas each having one to fill.
Sky Sports News' Craig Slater:
"He [Bearman] is the Jude Bellingham of Formula 1. I think we have to conclude that.
"He's only just turned 19 In May; he's Britain's youngest ever F1 driver when he made his debut for Ferrari at just 18.
"That debut in Jeddah saw him finish in the points in seventh place, and I suppose ultimately down the line his ambition will be to be a full-time Ferrari driver and win races and world championships with that team.
"He has signed a multi-year deal at Haas and he is on the Ferrari young driver program. Is he joining that team at just the right time?
"Lewis Hamilton is going there [Ferrari] but he will be 40 next season when he makes his Ferrari debut, so if Bearman stays for three years at Haas, might he succeed Hamilton at Ferrari? There is that potential."
While Bearman was already considered a hot prospect by many within F1, his reputation soared at March's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when Sainz's illness left Ferrari needing a last-minute replacement.
Bearman's accomplished display, as he rose from 11th on the grid to finish seventh, marked him out as a future star and drew praise from all fellow drivers, including seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
At the time, the likes of Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur insisted there was no pressure on Bearman, but the Brit now admits he knew just how crucial the opportunity was in terms of fast-tracking his journey to the F1 grid.
"It was one of the most important weekends of my life so far," Bearman told Sky Sports News. "It really accelerated my chances of getting to Formula 1. And I'm happy that it went well because those two hours of the race in Jeddah were two of the most important I've ever done.
"There was lots of stress, lots of pressure, lots of high expectations from myself. But that was a pivotal weekend and such a whirlwind of an experience.
"I knew that the eyes were on me. There was no way of getting away from that. That was where most of the pressure came from because I knew that with a good performance I could really put myself in a position to get a seat for 2025. With a bad one, I could do the opposite.
"So it was a huge amount of pressure and of course they were all trying to tell me that I had nothing to prove, but I knew in the background everyone was watching, because this is the fairest evaluation of a driver - it's an F1 race. So it was tough to manage everything. I'm really glad it went well, well enough to get me a seat."
Thursday July 4
1.30pm: Drivers' Press Conference
6pm: The F1 Show
Friday July 5
8.35am: F3 Practice
9.55am: F2 Practice
12pm: British GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
2.05pm: F3 Qualifying
3pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: British GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
Saturday July 6
9.15am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: British GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: British GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: British GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday July 7
8:15am: F3 Feature Race
9:50am: F2 Feature Race
11:50am: Porsche Supercup
1:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday - British GP build-up
3pm: The BRITISH GRAND PRIX
5pm: Chequered Flag: British GP reaction
6pm: Ted's Notebook
F1's summer triple-header concludes with the big one, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Showcase, with Sunday's race at 3pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
