Guenther Steiner believes ‘more than one’ Formula 1 team will now try to sign Oliver Bearman to a full-time drive in 2025 after the Ferrari talent’s Saudi Arabian GP debut.
The 18-year-old earned a shock seat on the Grand Prix grid in Jeddah last week after Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis. Ferrari rushed to promote Bearman from his reserve driver role to partner Charles Leclerc. He was already at the circuit to race in F2 with Prema.
Bearman quickly shifted his focus from kickstarting his Formula 2 title aims to becoming the youngest British and Ferrari driver in Formula 1 history. He only took in one hour of practice before qualifying in P11, and came home in P7 after a smart drive to withstand all pressures.
Bearman ‘took a lot of doubts away’ with his Saudi GP debut
Ferrari only told Bearman at 13:30 local time (10:30 GMT) last Friday that he was replacing Sainz, who underwent a successful operation. Yet his qualifying effort in Q2 was only 0.036 seconds down on Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton to just miss out on the top 10 shootout.
An intelligent drive following an early pit stop under the safety car would see Bearman score points on his Ferrari debut in the Saudi Arabian GP, too. But the Chelmsford native will likely return to F2 at the Australian GP. Ferrari expect Sainz will return in Melbourne on March 24.
Steiner tips teams to phone Ferrari to sign Bearman for 2025
But Bearman making a quick change from F2 to F1 and delivering convinced Steiner that the Ferrari Driver Academy talent is ready for a full-time seat on the 2025 grid. The former Haas team principal also believes several teams will be interested having shaken off some doubts.
Steiner explained on the official F1 website: “For prospective employers, that drive will have taken a lot of doubts away of what he is able to do. He’s in a good place as at the end of this year, there are a lot of contracts up with drivers. So, he can put himself in good a position.
“He can’t go anywhere he wants but I believe there is more than one opportunity for him. He has a contract with Ferrari, I don’t know how long it is. If you were interested in him, you’d go and speak with Ferrari and see what they want to do and see if something can be achieved. You, of course, need to see what is happening in your team with the drivers.
“Do you want him or are you happy with what you’ve got? I think a lot of teams will proactively look at him now after his performance last weekend. If I see the potential, other people will see it, as well. So, I think there is a good possibility for him to get a seat.”
Haas would be an obvious landing spot for Bearman given the team’s close ties with Ferrari. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will also be out of contract at the end of 2024. While team principal Ayao Komatsu adores Bearman, who Haas get in six FP1 sessions this season.
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