F1 2025 recap: Oliver Bearman’s full-time debut proves he’s on course for success

Oliver Bearman entered Formula 1 with a bang when he was thrown in at the deep end, deputising for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Coming at a tricky circuit in the highest-profile team on the grid, then 18-year-old Bearman showed he had the steel to match his talent by taking seventh on his unexpected debut.

Bearman's maiden full-time campaign for Haas has gone on to confirm the Briton is still on the right trajectory to one day become a Ferrari driver for good. But that doesn't mean it was all plain sailing.

Coinciding with a false start for the team in Melbourne with an aerodynamically unstable car, Bearman crashed out in Australia. And by his own admission, the first half of Bearman's rookie campaign hadn't been to the standard he had expected from himself and was laced with errors. Inevitably so? Perhaps, but that didn't make them any less frustrating to the highly self-critical 20-year-old. There was an unnecessary pit entry crash under a red flag in Silverstone, and there have been other smaller errors as the Ferrari junior got up to speed and gained nine penalty points in the process.

But the Silverstone weekend also proved a turning point in a good way, with Haas' significant upgrade package boosting Bearman's confidence aboard the VF-25, especially in qualifying. The following race in Spa was his first points finish in nine races, and since the summer break Bearman has been the second-highest scoring driver in F1's midfield, only behind double podium finisher Carlos Sainz.

Since then, he has also had the measure of experienced team-mate Esteban Ocon in qualifying, which he ascribed to starting to get on top of Pirelli's unique tyre characteristics over one lap.

The Mexican GP was Oliver Bearman's high point for Haas

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

"If you put me back in Suzuka or China, I probably wouldn't do a faster lap time in qualifying. I'm not a faster driver than I was at the start of the year, but I'm able to extract a fast lap time more often. I'm able to do more consistent race pace and I understand the tyres a lot more, what they need from me in qualifying.

"I'm making fewer mistakes as well, but all of these things were expected from me. That's why I've never been super harsh on myself for some of the mistakes I did earlier in the year. Even if some of them were very silly."

Bearman's finest hour was his dogged Mexico Grand Prix performance, opportunistically passing Max Verstappen early on and then soaking up the pressure to resist the world champion and other chasers. It earned him a career-best finish of fourth and further underlined that when Haas was at its best, Bearman could capitalise on the opportunity.

Parent team Ferrari will be pleased, and if Bearman keeps up his current trajectory, he will be hard for Haas to retain.

"Regarding my future, there have been no conversations," he said. "I just drive the car. I think the rest will sort itself out if I perform at a good level."