Haas boss Ayao Komatsu has stated that the American squad should “be happy” if Oliver Bearman is promoted to a full-time Ferrari Formula 1 seat.
The young Brit has impressed since making his full debut with the Silverstone-based outfit last year, having raced twice in 2024, as well his sensational first Grand Prix, for Ferrari, in Saudi Arabia. His seventh-place finish in Jeddah, when competing in Formula 2, put the world on notice that the then-teenager was a future star, following it up with another points finish in Azerbaijan.
Bearman has been able to continue to unlock his potential as a Haas driver, outscoring experienced teammate Esteban Ocon in his first full season last year. Those results were unexpected and a wager on Bearman at the online BetGoodwin site will have returned a good profit
And continuing to impress this year, he has furthered rumours that he might be seen by the powers that be in Italy as an heir apparent to Lewis Hamilton at the Maranello-based team.
The arrangement with Ferrari, which provides technical support and engines to Haas, has given Bearman a sufficient breeding ground, and Komatsu is aware that it could lead to an eventual signing to drive one of its famous red cars.
“He’s got huge, huge potential,” the Japanese told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“There’s no point worrying about it. I’m a strong believer in controlling what you can control.
“Ferrari has been investing in him for many, many years. We got him last year and this year.
“We’ve got to focus on what we can control.
“And if we’ve done a great job with Ollie and Ollie performs so well that Ferrari wants to take him the following year, we have to be happy that we’ve done our job.
“So, we’ve got to focus on our job.”
Komatsu admits to ‘no control’ on Oliver Bearman/Ferrari situation
Naturally, there will be discussions between the teams about Bearman and his progression, whose stock continues to rise with every good Grand Prix performance.
When asked if there is any semblance of schedule with talks with Ferrari about Bearman, Komatsu said: “Yeah, but that’s just a discussion between us and Ferrari.
“But, seriously, we are all just focused on getting the best performance out of the car and out of Ollie.
“If that means we lose him for next year – hopefully not, but that’s not something we can control.”
There is no doubt that Bearman is, without question, the next best British F1 prospect since Lando Norris and George Russell, and Ferrari has certainly utilised its options to educate him through loaning him to Haas.
If Bearman continues to grow as a driver, and if Ferrari continues to show an upward trajectory with on-track performance, then there is a mouthwatering prospect for Italian and British racing.
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