Oliver Bearman is joining the F1 grid in 2025 as the 19-year-old will drive for Haas F1 Team, agreeing a multi-year deal with the American-owned team.
The British driver impressed the F1 world with a stunning performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March. Stepping in from FP3 onwards to replace Carlos Sainz who had been struck with appendicitis, Bearman missed out on Q3 by 0.036s.
He drove a superbly mature and strong race to finish P7, ahead of fellow Brits Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Bearman was only 10s behind Oscar Piastri at the end, with the Aussie in P4.
Bearman has already worked closely with Haas. He has appeared in four practice sessions for the team: Mexico and Abu Dhabi last year, and he has done so at Imola and Barcelona in 2024. In all of those sessions he showed good speed and did not make any massive mistakes.
He has a great record in the junior categories. Bearman won the ADAC and Italian F4 Championships in 2021. In November of the year, he joined the Ferrari academy.
In Formula 3, he narrowly missed out on the title in 2022 as he finished P3, seven points off champion Victor Martins following a crazy title battle.
The current PREMA driver is in his second season in F2. After doing the double in Baku last year, the driver from Essex finished 6th in the standings.
PREMA has struggled with the new cars in F2 this season. Bearman logged his best result of 2024 last time out in Austria, winning the Sprint race. His best result in a feature one is 4th in Monaco.
It leaves him P14 in the standings, 89 points behind championship leader Paul Aron.
Oliver Bearman
“It’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me.
“To say out loud that I will be a Formula 1 driver for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team makes me so immensely proud. To be one of the very few people who get to do the thing what they dreamed of as a child is something truly incredible.
“To Gene, Ayao and everyone at Haas, thank you for believing in me and for trusting me to represent your team. I’ve really enjoyed working with everyone since the first time we met in Mexico and I can’t wait to enjoy this moment with them and hopefully many more in the future.
“To Fred, Marco, Jock, Alessandro and everyone at the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, quite simply, I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for preparing me since F4 for this incredible opportunity and know I will give it everything I have.”
Ayao Komatsu
“It’s an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula 1.
“He’s developed into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw that for themselves when he was called in at the last minute to compete at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Oliver proved he was more than ready for the task, and we’ve seen that for ourselves running him in the Haas cars in our FP1 sessions over the past two seasons.
“We’re looking forward to further developing him as a driver and reaping the benefits of his talent – both inside and outside of the car. Oliver’s a great guy and a very welcome addition to the team when he joins us for the FP1 weekends.
“Now we know that relationship is going to be longer-term, it’s a positive thing for all concerned.”
Gene Haas
“I’m pleased we’ve been able to give Oliver Bearman this opportunity to drive full-time in Formula 1 – he’s undoubtedly an exciting rookie prospect, not just based on what he showed in Saudi Arabia but also through his time developing his relationship with our team.
“I’m personally excited to see how he grows as a driver, and we look forward to seeing him deliver for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team next season and beyond.
“This is an exciting time for the team. Oliver’s signing shows we continue to invest in talent – both on and off-track – as we continue to compete at the highest level.”
