Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman isn’t happy with the speculation surrounding his F1 future and a possible full-time seat with Haas in 2025, calling the conjecture “unhealthy”.
Bearman impressed earlier this season when he made a stunning F1 debut with Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where the 19-year-old was called in at the last hour to replace an ill Carlos Sainz.
On that occasion, Bearman’s run to P7 in the race demonstrated that his raw talent and ability to adapt to a top-tier car were undeniable.
The Briton currently competes in the FIA Formula Championship with Prema, but he has been earmarked by Haas for several FP1 outings as part of his continued F1 preparations.
He took to the track in FP1 at Imola and will once again be in action in Friday’s opening session at the Circuit de Catalunya.
However, Bearman now finds himself at the center of a media frenzy, with whispers turning into roars concerning a potential 2025 race seat with Haas.
While many believe that a deal with the US outfit has been signed and sealed, the young Ferrari junior denounced the hearsay.
“I mean, these are all rumours and speculation and stuff. There’s not really any backing to them,” he told the media in Barcelona.
“But I try to just stay focused on what I can do, on driving the car. And in the end, I try and stay away from this speculation, because it’s unhealthy.”
Asked if he had set a deadline for his racing plans for next year, Bearman said: “Personally, no.”
“My goal is, of course, as a driver to keep performing well,” he added.
“I think my FP1 in Imola went really well and I was happy with that. So I want to keep doing that. In terms of a timeframe, I don’t have anything defined.”
While playing down the speculation regarding Haas, Bearman did concede that a seat with Haas is his main objective for 2025.
“I mean, of course, that’s my goal,” he said. “That’s what I’m aiming towards. There’s no hiding that.
“I have a few things personally that I’ve identified that I want to improve when I’m driving in F1, but that really comes with experience and doing more laps.
“And I think just me working towards that goal is going to hopefully be enough to get me where I want to be.”
Addressing his personal development as a burgeoning F1 driver, Bearman pointed to tyre management as an area where he needs to improve, calling experience his best ally.
“I tend to get up to speed pretty well, that’s one of my strengths,” he said, “I mean in Jeddah that was the case and even in Imola I seemed to be on the pace pretty quickly.
“But whenever we do a qualy sim on soft tyres, I don’t make the step that easily, because it’s quite a big step, you know, the track is evolving a lot, the tyre grip is suddenly much higher and the fuel loads are lower. And I tend not to maximise that yet.
“But I don’t need to really overthink that or worry about it. It’s just something that comes with experience and it will come. I’m not worried about that. It’s just I have identified it as something that I could work on and improve.”
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