Ferrari F1 bound Ollie Bearman set to make key move

Bearman, Ferrari, F1, 2024, Jeddah, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

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Ferrari bound Bearman set to make key F1 move

Ollie Bearman looks set to inherit Nico Hülkenberg's seat at Haas for 2025

Jim Kimberley

Saturday 27 April 2024 12:58 Updated: 13:03

Another piece of the 2025 Formula 1 jigsaw puzzle fell into place as news of Nico Hulkenberg's much-rumoured switch to Sauber finally dropped.

Audi, who will take on the Sauber project from 2026, has long courted the German driver who will depart Haas at the end of 2024.

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Haas has not confirmed either of the names for their two seats next year, but Hulkenberg was in the running for one before Audi's announcement.

However, since Haas announced Ollie Bearman would drive in six FP1 sessions for them this year, they all but confirmed change was coming for 2025.

Following in the FP1 footsteps

Formula 1 teams must allow rookie drivers, defined as someone with two or fewer F1 grands prix starts, to drive each of their two cars in Free Practice 1.

It's a positive rule that has allowed young hopefuls to share a track with the sport's best in a period where F1 testing time is almost non-existent.

Teams want their regular drivers to hone their car setup and head into the Grand Prix in the best possible shape, so typically do the bare minimum that this rule imposes, i.e. one FP1 per car.

By announcing that Bearman would do six, or 25 per cent of this year's FP1 sessions, Haas had effectively told the world that they wanted the British driver for 2025.

We previously had Williams fielding Logan Sargeant in multiple Friday practice sessions during 2022 as they planned his graduation to maximise his track time in F1 machinery.

Bearman is following that pathway in 2024, albeit with the decision to hand him so many FP1 outings coming far earlier than Sargeant's 2022 late-season flourish.

Ferrari back Bearman

Although Hulkenberg is switching from Haas to Audi, another team is at play here to influence Bearman's F1 arrival.

Ferrari, not Haas, is the one who has backed the teenager since 2021 after he contested and impressed in their secretive Scouting Camp.

As a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy (the FDA), he wears the Prancing Horse on his helmet, overalls, and car in Formula 2 and will hope to be a full-time member of the Scuderia in the future.

Although Ferrari looks to have one of the best possible driver pairings in the short term after signing Lewis Hamilton to partner Charles Leclerc, Hamilton will retire or leave at some point, and Bearman is the heir apparent.

Leclerc walked a similar path on his journey to Ferrari, graduating from Formula 2 at the same Italian team as Bearman, PREMA, with FDA backing.

Like Bearman in Mexico City last year, Leclerc also made his FP1 debut in Haas machinery before his maiden season at the top, driving the VF-16 four times in 2016.

Rather than signing for Haas, though, Leclerc joined Frederic Vasseur, then Team Principal at Sauber, in 2018 as a stepping stone to Ferrari, but Sauber is not an option for Bearman.

It has to be Haas

Haas and Sauber have been the long-standing customer teams for Ferrari, with Haas only ever using Ferrari power units and Sauber having Ferrari-powered cars since BMW's 2010 exit.

With Audi coming in as a works team in 2026 and the German manufacturer developing its own power unit, any Leclerc-esque incubation of a Ferrari driver won't be an option.

Audi will want to beat all other F1 teams, and the global giant has the means to do so, so nurturing a rival's future isn't on the cards.

Therefore, Ferrari realistically only has Haas available to place Bearman to gain F1 experience.

Seeing that Haas is losing a driver for 2025, Bearman stepping in is the logical move where everybody benefits.

That's not to say Hulkenberg leaving is the only reason why Bearman will join; there's a Rube Goldberg machine of moving parts between Audi, Hulkenberg, Ferrari, Haas, Carlos Sainz's appendicitis and more here, and seeking out the instigating force would require a PhD.

It's unimportant from Bearman's perspective, though, as every change nudges him closer to reaching Formula 1. He's just awaiting official confirmation.

Ferrari Haas Audi Nico Hulkenberg Sauber Ollie Bearman