Oliver Bearman has declared he feels “ready” for a permanent seat with Ferrari.
The Briton, who has been part of the Italian squad's academy for four years, made his grand prix debut with the team at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, standing in for an unwell Carlos Sainz.
Bearman impressed en route to a seventh-place finish before securing a full-time drive last year with Haas.
The 20-year-old continued to show strong potential during his rookie year, notably delivering a run of five consecutive point-scoring finishes late in the season - the longest streak in the team's history.
As he is largely believed to be the next in line for a Ferrari seat, the Briton has declared himself ready for the switch.
"I’m in F1, and you have to back yourself,” he told the media, including RacingNews365. "I believe I’m ready, but I have to continue to prove that."
Bearman highlighted that his strong run of form last year was not isolated to the points-scoring results.
"It’s not that I had five or six good races that suddenly everything changed," he said.
"It's also easy to forget in the middle of the season, I had a run of four or five 11th places in a row. That was also consistent, but just not quite good enough.
"We’ve gained a bit of car performance, so that 11th place turned into a 10th, ninth and eighth.
"Obviously, that was better received by everyone. I definitely improved, particularly since the summer break.
"I found a really good rhythm and momentum. Of course, I would say that I'm ready."
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