In the second race of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Oliver Bearman stepped in to replace Carlos Sainz Jr. and delivered a seventh-place finish in his first race for Ferrari. That result still has Bearman ranked 15th in the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings, despite it being Bearman’s only F1 race of the season.
Now, Haas is hoping he can deliver something similar at next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
As expected, the team confirmed Friday that Bearman will replace Kevin Magnussen in Baku, as the veteran driver is facing a one-race ban for accumulating 12 penalty points on his Super License over a calendar year. Magnussen finished tenth in the Italian Grand Prix, but was given two more penalty points for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly.
That brought his total to 12, and created the need for Bearman to step in again for a veteran driver. The team has already confirmed that Bearman and Esteban Ocon will be driving full-time at Haas next season.
“I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico [Hülkenberg] in Baku,” said Team Principal Ayao Komatsu. “He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process. This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”
“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience,” said Bearman. “I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku. The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”
Bearman’s seventh-place finish for Ferrari in his debut was a strong performance, made even more impressive when you consider he had just one hour of practice time in the SF-24 before qualifying.
In Baku next weekend, he’ll have the entire week to prepare for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
