At their select media day on Monday, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu implied that Oliver Bearman is the first in line to replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari if the young Brit continues to impress the grid during his two-year tenure with the American team. Furthermore, the 48-year-old declared that both Bearman and Esteban Ocon would receive equal status on track at Haas this season.
Haas’s 2025 driver line-up exhibits a blend of youth and experience, with veteran duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg parting ways with the team at the end of their 2024 campaign. In July last year, they signed multi-year contracts with Ferrari Academy driver Bearman and Ocon, who stood down from his Alpine F1 seat after five seasons.
Bearman’s journey in F1 so far
Despite his tricky F2 campaign last year, Bearman turned plenty of heads when he made his F1 debut for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian GP as a super-sub for the unwell Carlos Sainz. With a singular practice session under his belt, the then 18-year-old narrowly missed out on the top ten in qualifying and finished the race in an impressive seventh place ahead of experienced drivers like Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
Bearman received the opportunity to showcase his skills on two other occasions last season as a reserve driver for Haas. With Kevin Magnussen receiving a race ban, he made an early debut for the Banbury-based team at the Azerbaijan GP. After finishing ahead of teammate Nico Hülkenberg in tenth place, the Chelmsford native became the first F1 driver in history to score points for two different teams in his first two races.
The 19-year-old deputised once again for an indisposed Magnussen at the São Paulo GP. Being involved in a couple of incidents, he only finished in twelfth position in the chaotic rain-interrupted race. Nonetheless, many deemed his performance acceptable given that the Interlagos circuit witnessed multiple off-track moments and retirements on the part of more experienced drivers.
In preparation for his 2025 F1 campaign, Bearman has already participated in Haas’s two-day TPC outing at Jerez. This marks their first-ever private testing programme, primarily facilitated by their new partnership with Toyota.
Oliver Bearman may replace Hamilton at Ferrari after the F1 2026 season
As it stands, the 19-year-old will continue to race for Haas at least until the end of the 2026 season. However, if Bearman manages to keep up his fine form, he could potentially replace Hamilton at the Scuderia.
Alluding to the same, Komatsu remarked that he is content with reaping the benefits of their fruitful partnership with the Maranello-based outfit in the meantime. Stating that he won’t be frustrated to part ways with the young Brit at the end of 2026 if their collaboration propels the team forward, the Japanese added that he would take it as a compliment if Bearman graduated to a top team like Ferrari after maturing further as a driver with Haas.
“It’s not frustrating at all, to be honest with you. I think it’s amazing that we had access to Ollie [Bearman]. It’s thanks to our relationship with Ferrari that we have Ollie, we had him racing for us in Baku and Interlagos [in 2024]. That’s actually a positive and a benefit for us.
“The fact that we’ve got two years solid with Ollie, provided that nothing happens with Lewis [Hamilton] and Charles [Leclerc] at Ferrari, is great. If we work together and make improvements together such that, at the end of ’26, Ferrari insists that they want to have Ollie in their car, that has to be a compliment to us.
“So honestly, looking at it at least for the short term, the next two years, I feel really good that we actually have access to Ollie and we can help him as a race driver.”
Komatsu on the long-term project of promoting their own talents to F1
As the youngest member on the F1 grid, Haas is still heavily reliant on Ferrari as a customer team for the supply of power units, suspensions, gearboxes, and other technical components. However, their partnership extends beyond the technical realm, and the Italian squad is also known to support Haas in terms of sharing personnel, especially their junior drivers.
Although he insisted there’s no urgency to do so, team boss Komatsu remarked that they would like to develop and promote their own talents to F1 in the future instead of serving as a stepping stone for drivers on their way to Ferrari.
“Of course, beyond that, we have to grow as a team so I’m sure at some point we’ll get to the stage where we need to grow out of it, if you like. We’ve got to develop the ability to give opportunities to young drivers and then for us to to develop and identify the talent, develop those talents together.
“We haven’t had the capability or opportunity to do that before—this is year one of doing that. So I think in terms of the transition, I’m not in a hurry to say, ‘It’s frustrating that we have to give the driver back to Ferrari’. No.
“These two years we’ve got with Ollie, we’re determined to make it work and if at the end of the day we get to the stage where Ferrari is happy enough to take Ollie for ’27, we’ve done a good job.”
Bearman and Ocon to receive equal status at Haas
With rookie Bearman partnering an experienced Ocon at Haas in 2025, many expected the Frenchman to have the upper hand within the team. However, team principal Komatsu has explicitly stated that Haas would grant both Bearman and Ocon equal status in the 2025 season. Furthermore, he added that he expects a healthy competition and collaboration between the teammates to push the team forward during the season.
Acknowledging the experience that Ocon brings to the table, Komatsu nevertheless expressed that they no longer regard Bearman as a conventional rookie on the grid. Highlighting Bearman’s mature performances as a super-sub last year and his work on the Ferrari simulator, he admitted that the 19-year-old has a lot to offer to the team despite 2025 being his first year as a full-time F1 driver.
“Honestly, we don’t have a lead driver or non-lead driver, we just work as a team. I’d like to think that both of them push and challenge each other in a good way and then push the team forward together.
“We don’t set out saying, ‘Oh, Esteban [Ocon], because of his experience, he’s the team leader’. Both of them bring different positives to the table.
“We’re not really treating him [Bearman] as a rookie driver. He’s got such a mature head on his shoulders, and he can offer a lot with his young age. He’s got lots of experience and of course he has had exposure to the Ferrari side of things as well, so he’s been learning a lot pretty quickly.
“So in terms of development stages, he’s not like a normal rookie and he’s already got a lot to offer for us, pushing us, pointing to us what we need to improve on as a team, but in the right way, so we’re really excited about that.”
Komatsu not concerned about teammate rivalry despite Ocon’s past, wants Bearman to show consistency
Over the years, Ocon has earned the unflattering reputation of not being a team player. Last season, he landed himself in further trouble with the Alpine management after crashing into teammate Pierre Gasly at the Monaco GP. In fact, the French team replaced him with rookie Jack Doohan at the Abu Dhabi GP, and the 28-year-old exited the team prematurely before the season finale.
Regardless of the notoriety that follows the Frenchman, Komatsu revealed that he is not worried about his competitive nature and that he expects Bearman and Ocon to motivate each other at Haas. In terms of what they are looking for, the 48-year-old revealed that they want Bearman to be consistent and determined throughout the season and work together with the team to deliver better results on track.
“I think [Bearman] will be fine. I’m not worried about his competitiveness.
“I think they push each other in a good way. I think what we’re looking for from Ollie is—he’s only done two races with us, plus one race at Ferrari—so that consistency across many races.
“It’s a tough season, right? It’s very different being a full-time F1 driver to perform week in, week out, keep that consistency, keep the drive, drive the team together, etc. So we’re looking for that kind of consistency and determination to push the team forward as well as himself.”
