EXCLUSIVE: How Bearman went from super-sub to star rookie across his first full-time F1 season with Haas

Ollie Bearman was thrust into the F1 spotlight in 2024 when he made a last-minute substitute appearance for Ferrari and later filled in at Haas. Those impressive displays earned him a full-time opportunity for 2025 and, at the end of a whirlwind rookie season, he has only enhanced his reputation as one of the sport’s brightest young talents. Shortly before it drew to a close, the 20-year-old Briton sat down with F1.com to relive the journey…

Thursday afternoon’s media duties ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend are in full swing, with Bearman jumping between broadcast and written interviews for outlets from all over the world before joining us in the sun outside Haas’ hospitality unit.

Bearman finds his F1 feet

Race suit tied around his waist, a wide smile on his face, and carrying a relaxed demeanour, Bearman looks completely at ease with life in the paddock – as if he is a veteran of the sport, rather than a newcomer who has little more than 20 Grands Prix under his belt.

After going through the trials and tribulations often experienced by F1 rookies earlier in the season, Bearman has hit a strong run of form, starting with a superb sixth-place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix and backed up by P9 results in Singapore and Austin.

“I’m really happy with how it’s been going, especially the second half of the season,” Bearman tells F1.com as we begin to review the year – and his proper step up to the top echelon. “It’s been a lot more controlled and less of a blur than before. Those three races I did last year were quite crazy, but I’ve managed to find my feet in F1.

“It was still a bit overwhelming [at the start] to have so many commitments and things to do during a race weekend, because you’re so busy compared to what I’ve been used to in F2, but that’s something I’ve been able to handle better as time goes on.

“Of course, I’m very aware of how lucky I am to be here, and I’m enjoying every single moment. Stepping up to F1 is a dream that I’ve been trying to achieve for my entire life. I’ve bonded with the team and we’ve worked well together so far.”

As it transpired, Bearman hit another peak in his burgeoning F1 career at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he made the most of Haas’ recently upgraded car in the tricky high-altitude conditions to secure a spot in Q3, then launched it into the top six places on the first lap and ultimately came away with P4.

It was a gutsy, elbows out drive – you only have to ask four-time World Champion Max Verstappen about their exchange through the esses – that reminded onlookers of his exploits in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan in 2024, and reinforced why Ferrari have been backing him as one of their junior drivers for so many years.

“It’s a feel-good moment,” Bearman smiled to me in the media pen after that race, holding back tears as his mother, father and partner watched on. “To go side-by-side with Max is a very cool feeling; he’s someone I have basically grown up watching in F1, so it’s awesome. I’m really proud of the job we did.”

Lessons on and off the track

Bearman’s points-scoring charge would extend to Sao Paulo (where he finished sixth) and Las Vegas (10th), making it the longest run of all the rookies on the F1 grid in 2025, while banishing the memories of some painful moments from the first half of the year.

Alongside a pair of crashes at the season opener in Australia and a few tricky Qualifying sessions, there were red flag violations during practice in Monaco and Great Britain that triggered costly 10-place grid drops on both occasions – the latter “silly” incident sending him from a fine eighth on the grid to 18th, and leaving him outside the points on race day.

“There have been some mistakes that I wasn’t proud of or happy with,” he says, before pointing out: “I’m also allowing myself space for these errors, because I’m aware of my position. I’m a rookie, I’m still learning, and I’m building up. These mistakes are going to happen.

“I feel like everything so far has been a great opportunity to learn and improve. That’s really the most important thing. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a continuation and a big learning process. That’s what I’ve been doing well this year.”

In addition to those on-track situations, Bearman has learnt a huge amount about life as an F1 driver off the track, particularly when it comes to working effectively with his engineers and mechanics, and making the most of any car developments.

Bearman’s efforts at the Melbourne opener were not helped by instability problems that Haas initially experienced with their VF-25, which left team boss Ayao Komatsu “feeling sick”, and required fast-tracked car changes for the third round in Japan.

Driver feedback was crucial at this point and, while Ocon had several years of F1 experience with various teams to draw upon, Bearman found himself in new territory – the youngster working hard to fill in some of the gaps in his knowledge and get to grips with the situation.

“It’s not only [moments] that have been visible on track, but also ones I’ve had behind the scenes, like how I work with the team and the way to approach things,” Bearman says of his growth, which was proven by how well he exploited a Haas upgrade package across that late-season points-scoring run.

“Whenever we bring new upgrades on the car, I’m trying to figure out how to get the most out of them, and understand what I want from the car as well. There have been occasions where I feel like some things have been left behind, or things that I haven’t considered because I lack knowledge, and that’s just part of the process.

“It’s something that I’ve improved on a lot, but it’s also never [the case] that you arrive somewhere and you’re happy with it. It’s a continuation of the process. I’ve been happy with my progress, and the team seem to be happy as well, which is the important thing.”

Impressing the boss

Indeed, Komatsu – described by Bearman as a “great leader” who put Haas on a “great trajectory” when he took over as Team Principal in early 2024 – had challenged his new driver to make the next step shortly before the season’s final flyaway phase.

“I think the speed, there’s absolutely no question [about it],” Komatsu said. “You see it, there’s no doubt the talent is there. For us, it’s really a matter of harnessing that talent and then delivering it consistently: every session, every race weekend.

“We’re working with Ollie very, very closely, providing short-term objectives, getting feedback, [talking about] work ethic, etc. But he’s a great kid – he’s got such a great personality, a positive personality that motivates everyone, and then he’s very, very open-minded.

“He also takes constructive feedback – even the criticism – very, very well, so we have a very good working relationship, and it’s our target this year, [in the] races remaining, just to really showcase his talent consistently. That consistency is the key.”

What Bearman showcased between Singapore and Las Vegas ticked all of those boxes and, while Qatar brought the misfortune of a race-ending pit stop issue and Abu Dhabi a painful Q2 exit by the finest of margins, there are plenty of positives to take into the winter.

Bearman’s excitement for 2026

That winter period, of course, will involve Haas applying the final touches to their challenger for 2026’s regulations reset – one that offers opportunities for teams up and down the grid, but also comes with another wave of lessons and nuances to be learned.

Put to him that he will be dealing with two all-new cars in as many F1 seasons, Bearman replies with another smile: “The other drivers have had more years than me in this [type of] car, so maybe it’s good to reset things a little bit!

“Generally, I feel like this car has suited me quite well, but I’m excited to see how next year’s car drives. I haven’t driven it on the simulator yet, so it’s definitely going to be interesting – also to see the challenges that it throws up at us.

“All of the lessons learnt across the previous two eras of car are being put into practice on the new one. We’ve been bringing upgrades and bringing performance recently, which shows that the aerodynamics team is working very well.”

He adds: “Of course, I want the fastest car possible, and I want to score points for the team, but my own performance is irrespective of what the car is doing. I’ve set solid foundations this year, I’ve seen a really good improvement, and I want to continue to build on that next year.

“I’m going to have a bit more interaction with the team over the winter break. I have a clearer idea of what I want, even so far as the steering wheel is changing, and I want to have a close eye on how that looks. Whereas last year, it wasn’t my job to do that, as I didn’t know anything.

“It’s definitely a difference to last year, and I’m excited to see how that will look in the winter. It’s a short break, so I’m trying to recover my energy as much as possible, and we’ll see what happens next year. It’s a challenge for everyone, but hopefully we’ll have a quick car and we can fight at the front. That’s the plan!”