Despite not technically being classed as a rookie under the F1 rules, Oliver Bearman sees 2025 as his rookie season and he wants to enjoy the season ahead.
Oliver Bearman got a taste of Formula 1 in 2024 when he made his debut with Ferrari, replacing an injured Carlos Sainz in Jeddah. He impressed immediately and ended up appearing on the grid on two other occasions, in Baku and Mexico with Haas. His ability to remain calm under the pressures of the Formula 1 lifestyle impressed Haas and Ferrari, securing him his 2025 F1 seat.
The race starts he had in 2024 disqualify him from being considered a ‘rookie’. However, up and down the grid, it is clear that 2025 will still be seen as the young Brit’s rookie season. Bearman and Doohan are the only rookies in the 2025 grid that have had race experience. Giving them a leg up on their competitors.
Bearman looks forward to the 2025 season, admitting, “I really want to enjoy it.”
The potential
A few years ago, a Haas seat when you want to impress other teams on the grid and make a potential leap to Ferrari may not have seemed like the best idea. The team had struggled to find itself in the points, and when it was, it was in the back end.
However, 2024 seemed to represent a changing tide at Haas. For the first time, the team will not need Gene Haas to put money into it, instead funding itself. They have a new Toyota partnership that means their own simulator and the opportunity to take full advantage of off-track testing time.
With a talented line-up of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, they are marking themselves as a team to watch in the next few seasons. With Bearman ready to take full advantage of it.
The Brit made it clear that, like any season, there are unknowns. Though the team feel confident, you can never really know how good the car looks till it’s on track with the others.
He said, “The only uncertainty is how the car will perform.” He pushed on with how he feels ahead of 2025. “I am quite certain that I feel confident heading into round one. Of what I can do and how comfortable I am in F1.”
Being one of the few rookies to get race experience before his first full season, he noted how that has helped him prepare. He admitted, “I’ve had a good amount of mileage for a rookie. Lots of TPC but also lots of race weekends as well, which are very different, you know.”
Teammates and expectations
Bearman is joined at Haas by Esteban Ocon, and while it is Bearman’s rookie season, it is far from that for Ocon. With seven full seasons under his belt, Ocon will act as the guide and benchmark for the Brit.
Oliver Bearman talked about how he met Ocon for the first time properly during a TPC test just weeks before the F1-75 event. The drivers discussed their feelings on the car. But equally off-track, the off-season has been a bonding experience for the two drivers, heading to New York on their PR campaign.
He said, “We went up the Empire State Building, which was cool. It’s been nice to get to know him, he, of course, has got a lot of experience in F1 that I can take from and learn from.”
With the team seemingly headed in the right direction and points on the table, if the performance from 2024 continues, the expectations are going to be high for both drivers to help the team move up through the constructors.
Bearman recognised this, “I’m not sure what they have in terms of expectation towards me, but I’m very harsh on myself, so I’m sure my ones are good enough.” But the Brit isn’t setting himself position-based expectations, deeming them impossible to predict before the season begins.
However, Bearman’s goals are more on his behaviour. Saying, “My main goals for the season are to learn as much as I can, build up from race to race and have a lot of discipline.”
