Oliver Bearman

Biography of F1 driver Oliver Bearman

In October 2021, 16-year-old karting prodigy Bearman was signed to the Ferrari Driver Academy after a crushing Italian F4 campaign in which he won 11 of 21 races, finishing 111 points clear of second-place, stepping up to FIA F3 for 2022.

He would finish third with a single win, in the Belgian GP Sprint race, but continued his climb up the ladder to FIA F2 for 2023.

His stand-out moment came in Azerbaijan when he became the first driver since 2012 to top every competitive session of a weekend, and one of only three to do so in the modern GP2/FIA F2 era.

The Briton became just the 11th driver to win both sprint and feature races across a weekend.

He took two other wins in the Spain and Italian feature races to take sixth in the standings, but was promoted to Ferrari reserve driver for 2024. 

Just after taking pole for the feature race ahead of the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP, Bearman was withdrawn as Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz was struck down with appendicitis, with Bearman only jumping in the car ahead of FP3.

He qualified 11th, and raced to seventh to bank six points on his F1 debut, finishing ahead of both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Just ahead of the British GP, he was announced as a full-time Haas driver for 2025, and stepped into the VF-24 for two races later in the year, replacing Kevin Magnussen both times.

In Azerbaijan, the scene of his domination the year before, Bearman placed 10th to earn one point in place of the banned Magnussen, who was ill in Brazil as Bearman deputised once again, although he only finished 12th in the torrentially wet conditions. 

Oliver Bearman's 2025 and beyond

His first weekend as an official F1 driver got off to a bad start with a crash in FP1 at the Australian Grand Prix, causing him to miss FP2. Minutes into FP3 on Saturday, he beached the car before gearbox gremlins struck on his out-lap in qualifying.

He finished 14th in the chaotic race, one of only two rookie drivers to do so, before banking three points finishes in a row across China-Japan-Bahrain. 

Bearman scored two points in the Belgian GP Sprint, but would have to wait until after the summer break for a grand prix haul, doing so with sixth place in the Netherlands, a career-best.

He would eclipse this with a stunning run to fourth in Mexico, even battling wheel-to-wheel with Max Verstappen as he also took sixth in Sao Paulo in a run of five consecutive points finishes from Singapore to Las Vegas. He eventually placed 13th in the championship with 41 points.

However, Bearman enters the 2026 season on the verge of a race ban, having accumulated 10 by the end of 2025. His next set of two points is not due to come off until after the Miami GP, meaning he must negotiate the first six races penalty-free to avoid a ban.

A total of six of Bearman's current 10 points were received for ignoring red flags during practice in Monaco (two) and Great Britain (four), with the stewards being harsh at Silverstone after he crashed whilst attacking the pit-entry at full racing speed under red flag conditions in FP3.

For 2026, Bearman will once again partner with Esteban Ocon at Haas in the first year of F1's new era of regulations.