Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu believes Ferrari will be unable to ignore the claims of Oliver Bearman for a future race seat if the young British driver performs over the next two years.
At this stage, there is every possibility Bearman could replace Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, given both are on two-year deals.
Ferrari Academy driver Bearman has joined Haas on loan for the next two seasons, with an option for a third depending on the circumstances.
Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton may have only started work with the Scuderia this week as he embarks on his final chapter in F1, but at 40 years of age, Ferrari will be mindful of the future, dependant on performance and his hunger to continue.
Komatsu is under no illusion that after working with Bearman in several first practice sessions since his debut in Mexico in 2023, and during the grands prix in Azerbaijan and São Paulo last year when he deputised for Kevin Magnussen, the 19-year-old is "the whole package".
"It's not just the speed, it's just everything," said Komatso, speaking to invited media, including RacingNews365.
"I've seen some, let's say, rookie drivers who go into an FP1 session and be quick, but then not many of those guys are really focused on proving they're quick. Ollie wasn't like that at all.
"I saw more than enough in terms of his speed potential but what interested me most was, before FP1 [in Mexico], leading up to it, he really understood what his role was.
"He understood what the team needed to get out of it, how we needed him to approach it, the understanding of it, the execution of it.
"I remember in a quali sim, he made a mistake, but again, with that fast lap, he wasn't going all balls out. Of course, it was quali sim, but he understood what that meant in terms of FP1.
"During the cool-down lap, the team fed back the information. He was able to digest what he'd done, make adjustments, and then correct it for the second push lap as well.
"Even within that, let's say, four laps, it was how quickly he ran, and also in the debrief, his calmness, the way he could express things, working with the team, everything.
"I just couldn't believe he was 18. Seriously. And I said, 'Wow!'"
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Bearman a rookie but not a rookie
It was Bearman's performance in last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in which he stood in for Carlos Sainz at short notice after the Spanish driver required an appendectomy, that thrust him into the mainstream.
Bearman finished seventh in that race before scoring an additional point for 10th position in Azerbaijan, followed by a tricky 12th in São Paulo, where he at least crossed the line despite the treacherous conditions that accounted for several others.
Despite three grands prix under his belt, this coming year is naturally Bearman's rookie campaign, although Komatsu is not viewing him with such a status.
"I don't treat him as a rookie," said Komatsu. "In the sense that, he can drive a lot, and with these young engineers as well, they can grow together.
"And we don't treat him as a rookie as we pay lots of attention to what he has to say.
"He's got good experience, with his Ferrari education, being in the simulator, etcetera, and he's driven our car - VF-23 and VF-24.
"Every time he gets in the car his feedback has been excellent, his approach has been excellent, his speed has been great.
"You saw in the qualifying sessions in Baku and at Interlagos, he out-qualified Nico [Hulkenberg], who was our reference."
Asked by RacingNews365 whether he saw Bearman as a future Ferrari driver, Komatsu replied: "Yes.
"He is a Ferrari driver, and we've got him [on loan] for two years - two plus one.
"But if we do a good job [with him] before he does a good job, there's no way Ferrari can ignore that."
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