Oliver Bearman will be racing for Haas in Formula 1 in 2025. What has long been a poorly kept secret in the paddock was officially announced before the British GP. Bearman will take over the cockpit that will be vacated with the departure of Nico Hülkenberg. However, it is not yet known who his teammate will be.
However, his promotion is not due to his good performances in Formula 2 – rather, it is despite his F2 appearances. Bearman is not doing well at all in the lower house of the premier class at the moment. In his second season, he is only in 14th place in the championship at the halfway point of the season, although he was actually considered one of the top favorites for the title.
Oliver Bearman: Formula 1 appearances more important than Formula 2
Bearman explained in a media round before the Formula 1 weekend in Silverstone, why his promotion was nevertheless well deserved. Above all, his appearances behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car made the difference: “I think that my F1 appearances had a lot of weight. First and foremost, of course, the race in Saudi Arabia, but also my free practice sessions and the test drives. These always went pretty well,” said Bearman.
“That carried a little more weight for me and I think it carried more weight for the people who made the decisions,” he said confidently. The Briton, however, emphasised how decisive his participation in the Formula 1 race in Jeddah was for him. “Saudi was really the moment when the stars aligned that made my move to Formula 1 possible,” said Bearman.
The Formula 2 performances are therefore only of secondary importance, but Bearman admits that without this unexpected F1 opportunity at the second Grand Prix of the current season, he would probably have been in a worse position: “Without this moment, it would have been very difficult, especially when you look at how things are going at the moment. That helped me a lot, because otherwise you never know how you will perform against real Formula 1 drivers and that was my opportunity.”
Haas just a stopover: Will Bearman get a chance at Ferrari?
Bearman received a lot of praise for his seventh place on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Even before this start, he was highly rated by Haas. In 2023, he completed the two mandatory FP1 sessions for the US team. This year, he was scheduled for six training sessions with Haas, two of which he has already completed.
But Haas is only a stopover for Bearman. In the long term, the Ferrari Academy driver’s dream is of course to become a regular driver in Maranello one day. “That would be the big dream. But I feel like it’s not really in my hands. All I can do is give my best performance,” he said.
First of all, however, he has the next Formula 2 weekend in Silverstone. In Spielberg, Bearman celebrated his first win of the season in the sprint race, but only played a supporting role in the main race and eventually retired with engine failure. Why isn’t everything going well in Formula 2? Bearman explained that it was a mystery to him.
“I feel like I’m performing at a higher level than ever. But then I come to race weekends like Barcelona and I literally finish last. But last year I won the race by five seconds,” he wondered. One possible answer could lie in the Formula 2 car. A new standard car has been used since this year: “It’s also a bit of the driving style. I tend to get on a bit better with Formula 1,” Bearman claims.
Formula 2 – Overall ranking 2024