Haas boss Aeao Komatsu has insisted that the choice to sign Oliver Bearman to a race seat from the 2025 Formula 1 season didn’t derive from pressure from Ferrari.
The American squad announced in the build-up to the British Grand Prix that Bearman will be provided his F1 bow with the team next season on a multi-term contract.
The Briton, 19, has conducted several practice and test showings with Haas since last term and was considered an overwhelming favourite to be handed a promotion.
Bearman will be the first rookie Haas has run since 2021 and Komatsu has recalled how impressed he was with the Ferrari affiliate from his first FP1 run with the side.
“I’m quite impressed with Ollie from day one, when he drove for us in the Mexico FP1,” Komatsu said.
“Not just his speed, his work ethic, you know, his attitude, how he communicates with the engineers, how he understands the overall program, what we’re looking for as a team, and adjust his approach accordingly.
“Also, in the car, he learns so quickly, you know, during the qualifying simulations and high fuel runs, able to understand himself what mistakes he made, how to put it right, or, you know, communication from engineers and digest it and apply for the following lap. So, all in all, I just see lots of potential in the young man.”
Bearman has struggled during his sophomore F2 campaign and lies 14th overall, but Komatsu has admitted that Haas didn’t take that into account with its decision.
Asked whether Haas looked at Bearman’s F2 results in 2024, Komatsu replied: “Not very much, no.
“Like I said before, I don’t know the full story. But when we got access to Ollie, doing so many FP1 sessions, we got the full story.
“What he does, what he didn’t do, what he can do better, what he does well, what he doesn’t do very well. So, to me, that was enough.”
Komatsu, who took over from Guenther Steiner at the helm this season, also denied that Ferrari pressured Haas into giving its Junior a permanent drive in the series.
“It’s our decision. It’s not like Ferrari forced Ollie upon us at all, you know,” he explained.
“So, yeah, Ferrari’s opinion, feedback from Jeddah was interesting, so we took that into account. But, yeah, it was intent. Gene [Haas] and I decided that was a good option.”
But the Japanese engineer expects there will be back-and-forth dialogue between Haas and Ferrari throughout Bearman’s time with the team to assess his progress.
“Yeah, I think so,” he answered when asked whether he will be providing feedback to Ferrari on Bearman. “I think now and again.
For instance, the very first test in our session in Mexico, Ferrari asked if one of our engineers who’s been learning Ollie in the programme can be included in some of the meetings.
“I said, yeah, no problem. But since then, we haven’t had anybody from Ferrari.
“But whenever I have a meeting with Fred [Vasseur], if he asks questions, of course I give him feedback. So, yeah, I’m sure there’ll be informal dialogue, irregular ones.”
Komatsu also explained that Haas opted to issue Bearman with a multi-term contract to ensure that he is handed the sufficient time needed to develop in the top tier.
“I’d say it’s just a multi-year contract,” he added.
“It’s no point having someone for one year, especially when someone’s as young as Ollie.
“So, a minimum of two years. So, that’s multiple years.
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