Oliver Bearman had already proven during his debut that he belonged in Formula 1. And it was his impressive follow-up performances in the Free Practice sessions with Haas that got him the drive with the team for 2025.
However, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner wasn’t as impressed with Bearman’s Miami FP1 performance as much as it was hyped. When asked to give his thoughts on whether he was impressed with Bearman’s FP1 numbers on ‘The Red Flags Podcast’, Steiner simply denied it.
“No,” the Italian remarked. “It’s an FP1, I mean. I think in FP1 I look more at how the guy behaves, how you interact with him you know, how he works as a team member. The racing skills…once you’re good in F2 and you get into Formula 1 and you are a Ferrari junior driver, you need to rely on that the basis is good.”
According to Steiner, one can’t predict just based on a one-off FP1 performance how someone will do as a full-time driver. He believes that a driver has to drive an F1 car week in and week out to show his full potential and thus he feels that the talks about Bearman’s impressive numbers is an exaggeration.
However, he does feel confident about Bearman performing at a good level at Haas. It was under Steiner’s leadership that Bearman was first given a practice session with the team and the Italian believes that the British driver has progressed exactly how it was expected.
And while it was a big break for Haas to find Nico Hulkenberg’s replacement in Oliver Bearman, they now face the challenge of finding another driver who will team up with the young Briton in 2025.
Who will be the second driver at Haas after Kevin Magnussen’s exit?
Hulkenberg had decided to leave Haas earlier in the season when he signed a new multi-year contract with Sauber (soon to become Ausi’s works team). And now, Haas has decided not to renew Magnussen’s contract beyond 2024.
This leaves the team with an empty race seat for 2025. And they need to quickly fill that seat while the driver market is still open with many drivers yet to secure their future. The driver who has been predominantly linked with the American team is Esteban Ocon, who is departing from Alpine at the end of the season.
| Haas are set to announce Esteban Ocon will drive for them in 2025
An announcement is reportedly expected before the summer break, as per @Racingnews365c.
Ocon will sign a multi-year contract, at the American team.
At Alpine, they hope to eventually bring in Sainz as… pic.twitter.com/OXejoIyrro
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 6, 2024
However, the Frenchman isn’t the only one in contention for the Haas seat. Other drivers including Sauber’s Zhou Gunayu, and even the former Haas driver Mick Schumacher are being talked about as possible candidates for Haas next season.
