Haas F1 Team announced today that Prema Racing Formula 2 driver and Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy member Ollie Bearman would join the American outfit in F1 on a multi-year deal.

By Martin Lloyd

The 19-year-old British driver, currently 14th in his second season of F2 with Prema Racing, has signed a multi-year deal with the Ferrari-powered Haas squad that begins with the 2025 F1 season. The news was confirmed 4 July, just before the start of the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.

Since joining the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2021, Bearman has had increasing involvement in and attention from the F1 paddock. Since 2024, he has served as the reserve driver for both Haas and Ferrari.

Bearman substituted for Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March when the Spaniard fell ill with appendicitis. By finishing seventh, Bearman became the youngest F1 driver to have scored points on debut as well as the first Ferrari driver to do so since Arturo Merzario in 1972.

Bearman has also completed multiple practice sessions for Haas. In his first outing in Mexico last year, he finished just two tenths behind the other Haas of Nico Hülkenberg, an F1 veteran currently in his 12th full season. He also joined Haas for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the subsequent young drivers’ test the following week.

This year, Bearman has already participated in practice for Haas at Imola and Barcelona, finishing 2.4 seconds ahead of Hülkenberg in the former and two tenths behind the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen in the latter. The 19-year-old is set to have four further FP1 appearances this year – in Silverstone this weekend, Budapest, Mexico City and Abu Dhabi – alongside an in-season testing programme with Ferrari in the team’s 2022 car.

Bearman’s promotion to F1 follows a stellar career in junior single-seaters. Having transitioned from karts to cars in 2020, the Chelmsford native contested a season of ADAC F4 and a partial campaign in Italian F4 with US Racing before winning both titles in 2021 with Van Amersfoort Racing. He also earned a spot in the Ferrari Driver Academy that fall after participating in the programme’s Scouting World Finals.

After entering two rounds of Formula Regional Middle East in the winter of 2022, he moved up to F3 for his main campaign that year with frontrunners Prema Racing, finishing third with a sprint race win and seven more podiums.

A promotion to F2 with Prema followed for 2023. Bearman impressed with four wins, including a stunning double win at Baku, and finished sixth in the championship.

Though many considered Bearman a favourite for the 2024 championship, this season has not gone to plan for him. He lies 14th in the standings on 28 points, with his sole podium of the season coming with his sprint race win last weekend in Spielberg. Bearman did, however, qualify on pole for the Saudi round before his F1 call-up, and he also lost a potential victory at Imola when he stalled in pit lane while holding the net race lead.

Bearman will be the fourth driver representing Britain on the 2025 Formula 1 grid, joining seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari and race winners Lando Norris and George Russell at McLaren and Mercedes respectively. He is also expected to be one of several rookies on next year’s grid, with 17-year-old Prema teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a Mercedes junior and F2 rookie, widely tipped for a promotion to the premier category as well.

Haas has not revealed the identity of Bearman’s teammate. It was announced in April that Hülkenberg, 36, had signed a multi-year deal with Sauber for 2025 ahead of the Swiss team’s takeover by Audi. The future of 31-year-old Magnussen, Haas’ other driver, is not known.

Header photo credit: Haas F1 Team