Ollie Bearman reflected on his own F1 debut as he expressed excitement for new teammate Rafa Camara to make his ‘pretty special’ debut on home soil at the Sao Paulo GP.
Recently, Haas announced that Esteban Ocon would step away from the team before the season’s end, and Rafael Camara would take his place. The Brazilian driver is set for his F1 race debut at the Sao Paulo GP, making his step up to F1 earlier than expected, as he originally signed a contract for 2027. The Formula 2 championship leader joins Ollie Bearman at the Haas team.
Both were part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and are the same age. The two youngsters make an interesting matchup and will undoubtedly fight tooth and nail to prove themselves further. As Camara becomes another new teammate for Bearman, after Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon,
Asked about the arrival of another new teammate and his expectations, Bearman reflected on his own F1 debut.
“Yeah, I’m collecting them. I’ve actually had a lot of team mates, I saw the stat because obviously I subbed in my first year as well,” Bearman said to media including, Motorsport Week, ahead of the Sao Paulo GP weekend.
“But no, it’s nice for Rafa to get his debut at his home race, I think that’s something pretty special. And like you said, a preview for next year, so I’m excited for him. It’s going to be a tough weekend with the weather for sure.
“Actually, it reminds me of when I also got called in here. It was funny because last week I had a reminder of my first ever F1 weekend, which was getting the call in FP3. And then one of my first ever ones was also here when I got the call. And the weather was just crazy. But I think that could hopefully be an opportunity for us.”
Surprise debuts and track battles
As Bearman himself experienced coming into F1 at a young age, in a surprise debut with high pressure, he can relate to Camara on a certain level. Bearman’s F1 debut came in a similar fashion, as he stepped in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari around the demanding Jeddah circuit in 2024. The Englishman impressed with a strong performance, finishing P7 and securing points on debut after a single practice session. The Briton jumped from his F2 duties to a sudden F1 debut in a thrilling fashion.
“Yeah, I think so, like you do in any situation when you’re the one with less experience,” Bearman said when asked whether Camara will lean on him to adapt for the race weekend. “Of course, I’ll be trying to help him out as much as possible.
“Our target for the weekend and for the remaining weekends of the season are to beat Audi and not lose any more points to them. Obviously last week was a really tough situation where we lost points to Audi on a weekend that we shouldn’t have given that we had the pace not to.”
The Mexico City GP saw Audi driver Hulkenberg collide with Bearman, and the Haas driver’s promising drive ended with a premature retirement. Hulkenberg drove into the back of the Haas during the restart on Lap 47. Despite the bad luck, the pilot offered nothing but praise for the German.
“Funnily enough, I got taken out by an Audi driver, so obviously that wasn’t the reason why. It was a tough weekend because I can kind of stomach it when we’re slower than them and they score points. But we haven’t done a good enough job. In Mexico we were strong, in Mexico we were in position to score points, in position to beat them fair and square, and we didn’t. So now we really need a bit more luck on our side and to continue to be fast.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Nico,” Bearman responded when it was mentioned that Hulkenberg apologised to him after the incident at the Mexico City GP.
“He was in the situation I’m in. I stood in for Kevin twice in 24 and I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate in that situation. He helped me a lot and I have a good relationship with him away from the track actually as well. He’s just a really nice guy and shown by the gesture that he did in coming to see all of us.
“Obviously he’s a clean driver and I always have great battles whenever I fight with Nico. They’re never dirty and when it happens to you that you get taken out, it’s just racing. I don’t have any hard feelings against Nico for that reason. He’s a very clean driver and also he’s a great person as well.”
Challenging situations and preparing for Brazil
The Haas driver continued to reflect on the “complicated” situation and changes when asked about not being the veteran driver at the team but still having more experience.
“I wouldn’t say much has changed. I’m still not the oldest driver in the team, just by a few days now. Definitely the more experienced one. I don’t think my mindset has changed to be honest because since the start of the year I was looking to move into a role of leading the team because I knew that in the longer term that would be how I become successful and how I move up in Formula 1.
“No, I wouldn’t say that much has changed in that regard. Of course it’s strange not having Esteban here. It’s obviously a challenging situation for everybody and I really feel for him. I really do feel for him but of course the situation is complicated and things have changed. I just hope that it doesn’t cause disruption. At least last week I wouldn’t say that it caused any disruption at all. If anything it’s the positive now that we have Rafa in the car for these events and that is also preparing us as a team for next year.”
Additionally, Bearman was honest in his response when asked whether he had spoken to Camara before the weekend. As Camara makes his debut on home soil, the pressure is high, but his Haas teammate remained optimistic and deemed it a “pretty cool moment”.
“To be honest I haven’t spoken to him about how to prepare for the rain here. I don’t know how to do it either to be honest. I didn’t do a very good job of it in my first year. Of course I said hello and we spoke a bit. But very quickly getting to work and preparing for the weekend. But I’m excited to see how it gets on and I’m happy for him as well to make a debut at the home race. I think that’s a pretty cool moment.”
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