A former F3 champion is still in contention for a future Ferrari drive despite the present excitement around Oliver Bearman, Jack Aitken says.
Bearman delivered the best performance by a debutant since the 2015 Australian Grand Prix when he finished seventh in Saudi Arabia at the weekend.
But speaking on the Chequered Flag podcast, Aitken named another driver who shouldn’t be overlooked.
Bearman stepped into the Ferrari ahead of the final practice session in Jeddah after Carlos Sainz was hospitalised with appendicitis.
He narrowly missed out on Q3, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton setting a lap that was mere hundredths of a second faster.
And he progressed to seventh place from 11th on the grid, earning the driver of the day award in the process.
Bearman is beginning his second season in Formula 2 with Prema after finishing sixth in the championship last year.
Jack Aitken warns not to count out Robert Shwartzman
But Aitken thinks another driver on Ferrari’s books, 24-year-old Robert Shwartzman, mustn’t be forgotten.
Shwartzman won the 2019 Formula 3 title with Prema, and then spent two years in F2, finishing in the top four both times.
In 2022 and 2023, he served as the test/reserve driver for Ferrari and took part in four practice sessions.
This year, he’s racing for the Ferrari-backed AF Corse team in the World Endurance Championship, and he helped his team finish fifth at the season-opening race in Qatar.
Aitken says that Shwartzman has yet to give up on racing in F1 and will complicate the Scuderia’s impending driver dilemma.
He said: “Shwartzman is one that I think you can’t quite count out just yet. He’s a guy that definitely still has his eyes on the F1 prize.
“He is with the WEC hypercar team and doing a very good job, but he’s still young enough, he’s still got recent F2 experience, and could be in the mix.
“That would even add to the problems that they’ve got in that situation.”
Where will Ollie Bearman race in 2025?
Both seats at Ferrari are taken for next year, with Lewis Hamilton due to replace Sainz and race alongside Charles Leclerc.
However, there could be an opening at Haas, where both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg are out of contract.
Bearman and Shwartzman may both have their eyes on that seat, particularly the former, who will compete in six FP1 sessions for the team this year.
Audi may also choose to refresh things as they prepare to enter the F1 grid in 2026 after buying Sauber.
F1TV presenter Will Buxton says it would be a ‘massive shock’ if Bearman wasn’t on the grid in 2025.
The post ‘In the mix’: Alongside Bearman, ‘very good’ 24-year-old still has chance of racing for Ferrari in F1 - Aitken appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
