Ayao Komatsu has now hinted at the timeline Haas have set to decide if Ferrari gem Oliver Bearman is ready to secure a full-time drive with the Formula 1 team in 2025.
The 19-year-old is one of the most highly-rated young drivers pushing to earn a seat on F1’s grid. Bearman is also in a great spot to showcase his talents as the reserve driver for Ferrari and Haas in 2024. He will make six FP1 outings with Haas across the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Bearman will get behind the wheel of the VF-24 for the first time at the Emilia Romagna GP. He will even drive with Haas in FP1 for the Spanish GP, the British GP, the Hungarian GP, the Mexico City GP and the Abu Dhabi GP. But the Briton might have to wait to learn his future.
Ayao Komatsu admits Oliver Bearman’s FP1s with Haas are a ‘golden opportunity’
Haas team principal Komatsu has now described Bearman’s six FP1 outings with the team in 2024 as a ‘pretty good job interview’. He even sees it as a ‘golden opportunity’ to assess the Ferrari Driver Academy member as Komatsu looks to replace the departing Nico Hulkenberg.
Audi has signed Hulkenberg to a three-year contract which will see him drive for Sauber next season. The German was out of contract at Haas after 2024 like Kevin Magnussen is, as well. But Komatsu has hinted that Haas will not rush to promote Bearman unless he is truly ready.
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Komatsu said, via RacingNews365: “That’s a golden opportunity for us to work with him and then assess how he is, where he is, what his strengths or weaknesses are, and see where we can develop him and work together if we want to. So, it’s a pretty good job interview.”
Bearman has already shown Haas and Komatsu a glimpse of his merits after doing FP1 at the 2023 Mexico City GP and Abu Dhabi GP in his debut F1 weekend sessions. The Chelmsford-born talent even stepped in to replace Carlos Sainz for Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP.
Yet Komatsu describing Bearman’s six FP1 outings as a ‘pretty good job interview’ suggests Haas will not decide on promoting the Ferrari protégé to a full-time F1 seat for a while. The team could even leave it until the end of the season to decide if he will replace Hulkenberg.
Ayao Komatsu wants to see how Oliver Bearman handles any ‘obstacles’
Haas chief Komatsu also now hopes Bearman faces some challenges over his FP1s to watch how he adapts. The Briton enjoyed clean sessions with his outings at the Mexico City GP and Abu Dhabi GP in 2023. So, Komatsu hopes a wrinkle or two arises over his six FP1s this term.
“The sessions he’s had with us so far, everything has gone smoothly,” Komatsu added. “I’m not hoping for some misfortune on the car or anything. But at some point, he will face some obstacles and some things that won’t go his way – a car issue, a yellow or red-flag situation.
“It’s then how he handles that stuff, being in a compromised situation, how he’s still going to have to focus and behave in a manner that he can get the best out of it.”
Oliver Bearman will do four F1 FP1 sessions on Formula 2 race weekends
Bearman is already in a slightly compromised situation with his FP1s at the Emilia Romagna, Spanish, British and Hungarian Grands Prix. The teenager will also be racing in Formula 2 for Prema at the rounds. But Komatsu likes that those FP1s will give Bearman a chance to react.
Komatsu continued: “Let’s say he doesn’t handle things as well as he should have, say this weekend [at Imola], then he’s got Barcelona to correct it straight away.
“But I have full confidence in him after the way he handled himself in Mexico and Abu Dhabi with us and also in Saudi with Ferrari. Every single time there’s been a new challenge for him he has stepped up and managed it in a pretty impressive way. So, I have full confidence.”
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