Haas signs Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman on a multi year contract
Haas has signed Ferrari junior driver Ollie Bearman on a multi-year contract, replacing Nico Hulkenberg on the team. The young British driver made his F1 debut this season in Saudi Arabia when he replaced Carlos Sainz on the Italian team.
Having displayed maturity in handling on-track situations, as well as race pace in scoring points and even beating Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton on track, Ollie Bearman has shown that he has what it takes to be an F1 driver. The young British driver is currently racing in F2, where he's not had a strong record this season because of his team's struggles.
He had, however, already made a name for himself last season in F2 by securing pole position in Baku while driving with a bent steering. The young driver will replace Nico Hulkenberg, who will be joining the Audi project next season, thus leaving a seat vacant at Haas. Talking about making his Haas debut next season, Ollie Bearman admitted that it was hard to believe that it was already happening. The teenager said,
“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 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 [Haas, team owner], Ayao [Komatsu, Haas Team Principal] and everyone at Haas, thank you for believing in me and for trusting me to represent your team."
He added,
"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] 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.”
Haas team principal welcomes Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman to the team
Team principal Ayao Komatsu said that he was quite happy to have Ollie Bearman onboard. The young British driver had been part of the Ferrari driver academy and hence had a close association with the American team as well. Talking about bringing over the teenager from F2, Komatsu said,
“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."
He added,
“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."
The identity of Ollie Bearman's teammate is still a mystery for the F1 grid at this stage. Kevin Magnussen's contract with the team has not been extended, but at the same time, there are multiple names associated with the team. It does appear that Esteban Ocon is the frontrunner for the team, but we've yet to see him sign on the dotted line.