Oliver Bearman will become a full-time Formula 1 driver with Haas next season and has already impressed at the highest level.
The British driver will join the American team alongside Esteban Ocon in an all-new lineup for the outfit in 2025.
Bearman has already competed in two Formula 1 races. He made his debut in unusual circumstances in Saudi Arabia, replacing Carlos Sainz at Ferrari ahead of FP3.
He drove superbly, finishing in seventh place and impressed again in Azerbaijan for Haas, taking 10th place on his first full F1 weekend.
The 19-year-old has endured a difficult season in Formula 2 and explained on the Beyond The Grid podcast that he underestimated how difficult a weekend balancing F1 and F2 would be.
Oliver Bearman ‘underestimated how difficult’ racing in F1 and F2 on the same weekend would be
The significant step in performance from Formula 2 to Formula 1 requires some adjustments for young drivers when driving in FP1 on a Grand Prix weekend.
F1 cars are sharper and have much more braking ability, so it takes some acclimatising to make the step up to the highest level.
Bearman and other F2 drivers have driven in an FP1 session and a full Formula 2 weekend and have had their performance in junior series suffer slightly.
The British driver explained that he has struggled in Formula 2 after driving in the opening practice session of an F1 weekend. He also explained that balancing F1 and F2 racing for PREMA is a natural process for Bearman.
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He said: “I probably underestimated how difficult it would be. Even starting off on weekends where I just do an FP1, there’s been quite a few of those.
“And you focus on both of them on Thursday, which takes away a little bit of preparation on the F2 side of things because you really want to impress in an FP1.
“It’s the most important session of the weekend when you’re doing F1 and an F2 weekend. So it’s been tough to maximise everything, and I often found myself on the back foot a little bit, having done free practice ones.”
Oliver Bearman will be under a different pressure in Formula 1 in 2025
The British driver has scored points in both of his Formula 1 appearances so far which should give him a boost heading into next year.
Bearman has been ice-cool while battling drivers with a lot more experience than himself in the midfield where a lot of battles occur.
There will be a different pressure next year when he will be expected to deliver consistently with higher expectations than his appearances in 2024.
He has the talent to have a successful F1 career but will need to adapt quickly next year to circuits he hasn’t driven on.