Haas has confirmed that Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman will replace Kevin Magnussen at next week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix following the Dane’s one-race ban.
Last weekend at Monza, Magnussen was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points on his superlicence for a contact with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the Italian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, the sanction – just as excessive by many – put the Haas charger at the FIA’s 12-point threshold that automatically triggers a race ban.
Haas opted not to appeal its driver’s case and chose to entrust Magnussen’s car to Bearman, who will join the US outfit on a full-time basis next season alongside Esteban Ocon.
The 19-year-old Briton enjoyed a baptism by fire in Formula 1 earlier this season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he replaced at the last hour Carlos Sainz following the Ferrari driver’s sudden appendicitis.
Bearman’s one-off with the Scuderia resulted in an impressive seventh-place finish, a result that likely weighed heavily on Haas’ decision to recruit the young gun for its 2025 campaign.
“I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico [Hulkenberg] in Baku," commented Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu.
"He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process.
“This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”
Bearman feels well prepared to take on the challenge of racing with Haas and is determined to have a “solid weekend” in Baku.
“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience," he said.
"I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku.
“The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”
Due to his opportunity to race with Haas, Bearman will be absent from the Formula 2 races in Baku. Prema Racing has yet to announce a replacement driver to partner Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is also set to join the Formula 1 grid next season.
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