“It’s hard to find the words to express what this means to me,” the young Englishman said in the team’s press release. “To say out loud that I will be an F1 driver for Haas makes me extremely proud. To be one of the few to be able to do what he has always dreamed of since he was a little boy is truly incredible. I want to thank everyone at Haas for the trust they have placed in me. I have really enjoyed working with this team since the first time we met in Mexico last year.”
A member of the Ferrari academy since 2021, when he won the Italian Formula 4, Bearman has had an eventful season. The Briton experienced his first Formula 1 race when he had to replace Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, who suffered appendicitis. He impressed in his first race experience, finishing 7th, and scoring his first F1 points.
Lined up for several free practice sessions during the season, Bearman had to juggle between F1 and his second season in Formula 2 with the Prema team. Sixth in the championship and winner of four races last season for his first year in the F1 antechamber, Bearman had a more complicated start to the season this year (14th in the championship, 1 victory in Austria last Saturday). But his good performances in Formula 1 convinced Haas to trust the new rookie, while the 2024 season had seen an off-season without changes on the grid.
“It’s exciting to be able to offer a talented young driver like Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula 1,” said Ayao Komatsu, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team Principal. “He has matured into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw it first-hand when he was called up at the last minute to compete in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Oliver has proven that he is more than ready for the task, and we have seen it for ourselves by running him in the Haas cars during our practice sessions over the last two seasons.”
