Oliver Bearman knows that he will be racing in Formula 1 next year after inking a deal with Haas in the wake of his maiden Grand Prix outing in Saudi Arabia in which he scored points in his debut for Ferrari.
That guest spot - sitting in at the last minute for an unwell Carlos Sainz in the second race of the year - vaulted the 19-year-old British driver to the front of the queue when it came to open seats on the grid for 2025.
Since then it's been back to earth with a bump in his second full season in the Formula 2 support series where he's driving for Prema Racing - and his team mate is the highly rated 17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli was in the F1 spotlight himself at the start of the year when he emerged as a possible contender for the 2025 seat at Mercedes left vacant by Lewis Hamilton's decision to move to Ferrari at the end of the season.
Now Bearman is hoping that this comes true, or else that Antonelli finds a different berth in the Grand Prix paddock, so that they can take their rivalry and their friendship to the next level.
“We’ve always been following each other and stepping up around the same time," bearman told Formula1.com. I’ve known Kimi for a long time, we raced each other a little bit in F4, a lot on the simulator, now we’re team-mates in F2.
“I hope for him that he will be in F1 as well, because he deserves it," he added. "One day I hope to fight for a world championship with him, because I think that’s the trajectory that we’re both aiming for.”
(L-R) Oliver Bearman with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing.
After everything that's happened this year, Bearman is still pinching himself about the way he made his mark in F1.
"To have made my debut with Ferrari, that hasn’t happened for a very long time. And the fact that I became the youngest Ferrari driver was something very special for me.
"Ferrari is one of the most iconic brands in the world, of course within racing and F1," he added. “If you draw a car, it’s red. It’s a brand that’s synonymous with racing, with victory, with success - and with fantastic drivers as well.
“Of course I want to win world championships, and to do that with Ferrari is my dream," he acknowledged. "They’ve been supporting me since 2021. They’ve seen something from me early on.
"They decided to trust in me, and even just to put me behind the wheel in Jeddah was a big risk from Ferrari’s side," he noted. “That shows that they believe in me, that they trust in my capability."
The first step will take him to Haas, with the experienced Esteban Ocon confirmed as his team mate at Enstone in 2025.
Perhaps understandably, the furore surrounding his shock first F1 drive in March and the excitement about signing his F1 contract has somewhat impacted his F2 campaign in the meantime.
He's currently just P15 in the standings on 37 points despite claiming victory in Austria. Antonelli is up to P7 and on 87 points having secured pole and victory at Silverstone last month, followed by a second win in Hungary.
It remains to be seen whether Toto Wolff will pull the pin on promoting Antonelli straight into the Mercedes team now that the option to have him spend a year refining his craft at Williams has closed with Carlos Sainz' signing.
“About next year, I don’t really want to think about it because nothing is official, so I don’t know anything, to be honest," Antonelli said in Hungary. "I'm still learning a lot in F2.
“Definitely I still do quite a few mistakes, a few details that really matter, and I’m still not doing them right," he admitted. “I don’t know, to be honest. I’m trying to improve and to not make the same mistakes again, and I think [winning in Hungary] was the proof."
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