F1 youngster tipped to get rival driver sacked

alonso, bearman, aston martin, haas — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 youngster tipped to get rival driver sacked

Ayao Komatsu has been less than complimentary about Esteban Ocon recently

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 1 March 2026 16:56

A former F1 driver has claimed that one young star in the sport could spell the end of an experienced racer's career in 2026.

2025 saw four official rookies line up for the start of the season, plus two drivers who had not yet completed a full season in the sport, Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman.

Despite having completed three races throughout the 2024 season for Haas and Ferrari respectively, Bearman was still a very inexperienced racer when he was given a full-time racing contract with Haas for 2025.

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Yet he flourished in the role, bouncing back from a difficult start to the year to finish ahead of his vastly more experienced team-mate Esteban Ocon, and claim a fourth-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix, Haas' joint best ever grand prix result.

Ocon, who is a grand prix winner and four-time grand prix podium sitter, disappointed in his first season with the team, so much so that team principal Ayao Komatsu recently said that 'nobody was satisfied' with his 2025 performances, and that he must do better.

Being beaten by a rookie team-mate is one way of putting yourself under immediate pressure in the sport, and now Ralf Schumacher has said that if he does not improve in 2026, then he could well find himself facing the axe at Haas.

Commenting on Komatsu’s recent statement, Schumacher was asked by his co-host on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast if Ocon would be 'racing for his future in the first race' of 2026.

Schumacher replied: "Yes, I would say so. And we know that Gene Haas is also someone who makes decisions and needs performance and determination. And to be fair, the youngster [Bearman] came, saw and conquered, and of course made Ocon look a bit pale in comparison.

"He has to change that now. Otherwise, I think it will be more of a farewell event for him. After that, Haas, if he doesn't show this year that he can be faster or at least on the same level.

"Of course, with Bearman, he probably has one of the better talents who also has the potential to become world champion.

"We'll see when he's at Ferrari. But still, he's no use. So he has to perform. Otherwise, there are so many good people waiting in the wings who were strong in Formula 2 and who also deserve a chance."

Will Bearman end up at Ferrari?

If Bearman improves again in 2026 and has an even better season than he did last year, then it will not only be Ocon who is left fearing for his seat.

The young Brit is understood to be a candidate to be a Ferrari driver in the coming years, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton now 41 years of age.

In 2025, Hamilton finished 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the drivers' championship, leading to questions as to whether his services were worth the huge financial payout that Ferrari were offering.

If they could find a younger, cheaper driver who could perform at a similar level as Hamilton, then they would likely want to make that move, particularly with Hamilton currently set to be out of contract at the end of 2026.

It's set to be a huge year for the futures of Hamilton, Ocon and Bearman.

Haas Esteban Ocon Ollie Bearman Ayao Komatsu