Ayao Komatsu has now revealed what the Haas team principal ‘values more’ while he assesses Ferrari protégé Oliver Bearman for a seat with the Formula 1 squad for 2025.
The 19-year-old sensation shot to global prominence earlier this year when Bearman stood in for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian GP. He will now get another taste of F1 machinery on Friday, with Bearman contesting first practice for the Emilia Romagna GP with Haas at Imola.
It is the first of Bearman’s six FP1 outings for Haas this year as part of his reserve driver role with the team. The Briton will also get behind the wheel of the VF-24 at the Spanish GP, the British GP, the Hungarian GP, the Mexico City GP and the Abu Dhabi GP throughout the year.
Ayao Komatsu values Oliver Bearman’s Haas outings over his Formula 2 results
Bearman has already contested two FP1s with Haas after registering his Formula 1 weekend debut at the 2023 Mexico City GP before driving for the American squad again in Abu Dhabi. The Formula 2 title hopeful also stepped into a 2024 reserve driver role for Haas and Ferrari.
His close connections to Haas and scoring points on debut as the youngest Ferrari Formula 1 driver ever in Jeddah has put Bearman firmly in the mix to also now secure a 2025 race seat with the team. Haas are already looking for one racer after Nico Hulkenberg signed for Audi.
READ MORE: Who is Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman? Everything you need to know
Hulkenberg will leave Haas at the end of 2024 to race for Sauber next season ahead of Audi taking the Swiss squad over in 2026. Bearman, therefore, potentially has a clear route to F1 with Haas and Komatsu will use his six FP1 sessions over his F2 campaign to judge the teen.
“Of course, he has to perform in F2,” Komatsu noted, via Formule1. “But I value the time he spends with us more. It is important to see how he performs in this environment.”
Oliver Bearman is in the perfect place to impress Ayao Komatsu with six FP1 outings in 2024
Komatsu has already been quick to praise Bearman after his previous FP1s with Haas and his point-scoring debut for Ferrari. The Haas team principal called the Chelmsford native a ‘total package’ at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP, having seen his skill immediately in Mexico last year.
Bearman further impressed Komatsu, who was Haas’ trackside engineering director in 2023, with his communication and the quality of his feedback. Now, having six FP1s with Haas this season will put him in a great position to graduate to F1 in 2025, regardless of his F2 season.
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Prema struggling to adapt to F2’s new car at the Bahrain GP round saw Bearman get his title bid off to a poor start. He also failed to score any points in Saudi Arabia after withdrawing to race in F1 following Sainz’s appendicitis surgery after qualifying on pole for the Feature race.
Bearman, finally, got his F2 title bid off at the Australian GP round with a P9 finish during the Feature race. But he will head into the Emilia Romagna GP round at Imola this week sat 19th in the standings on just two points. Zane Maloney leads the F2 standings on 62 points so far.
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