Oliver Bearman made his second FP1 appearance of the season for Haas at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend. Bearman is set to take part in six sessions over the course of the year.
In Barcelona, the Briton was 19th fastest out of the 20 drivers. However, he was only a couple of tenths slower than his vastly more experienced colleague Kevin Magnussen.
This weekend, his focus will be on the Formula 2 races at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. But he’ll be back on F1 duty on home soil at Silverstone.
And according to one report, that’s when Haas plan to announce Bearman as one of their full-time race drivers for the 2025 season. It’s been a poorly kept secret for a while now.
Bearman will be replacing Nico Hulkenberg, who’s nearly double his age, at the American team. Hulkenberg announced in April that he’d be joining the Sauber/Audi project next year.
There’s still some uncertainty over the identity of Bearman’s teammate. Magnussen is trying to earn a new deal, but Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater believes that Haas is the likeliest destination for Esteban Ocon after his Alpine exit.
Oliver Bearman admits he’s struggling in F2 right now
Bearman has already achieved his most important goal for the year by bagging an F1 seat. But relative to expectations, he’s been struggling in F2.
Indeed, he may have earned a Haas deal with his displays in practice (and at the Saudi Arabian GP for Ferrari) rather than his showings in the feeder series. Bearman heads to Austria 17th in the championship with just 18 points on the board.
It’s worth noting that he was due to start on pole in Jeddah before he received a call-up from Ferrari. But he’s averaging 3.6 points per round overall, while Prema teammate and Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli is averaging eight.
For the first time since Saudi Arabia, the Briton failed to score any points in Barcelona. Writing on his Instagram page, he admitted that an improvement was required.
“It’s been a really difficult few weekends in @formula2,” he said. “Working harder than ever to bring back the results we deserve and come back stronger for the next 2 races.”
Damon Hill loves ‘extraordinary’ comments from Bearman
Bearman became the third-youngest driver in F1 history, behind Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll, when he replaced Carlos Sainz in Jeddah. He delivered the best result for a debutant since 2015 as he finished seventh, winning the driver of the day award.
The 19-year-old has clearly drawn plenty of ‘self-confidence’ from that showing. He said at the Spanish GP that he no longer had to ‘over-push’ to prove himself.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Damon Hill believes his mentality is ‘extraordinary’ for somebody his age. And it should stand him in good stead when he graduates to F1 next year.
There are still eight rounds remaining on this year’s F2 calendar. That gives Bearman and the Prema team as a whole time to turn their season around.
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