While Red Bull and Mercedes are typically associated with placing their young drivers elsewhere on the grid, Ferrari fans will have three racers to keep a close eye on during the 2025 Formula 1 season.
The vast majority of the hype will be surrounding Lewis Hamilton as he prepares to race for Ferrari for the first time.
Charles Leclerc is already a favourite with the Scuderia and as he enters his seventh season with the team will hope to once again be able to get the better of his newest teammate.
However, Ferrari have once again used their influence in the paddock to place a young driver with one of their rivals for 2025.
Oliver Bearman took part in three Grand Prix last year – deputising for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and Kevin Magnussen in Baku and Sao Paulo for Haas.
That trio of performances, as well as Bearman impressing Ayao Komatsu during his Haas FP1 sessions, was enough to earn him a permanent seat on the grid this year.
He’s one of several drivers taking part in their first full F1 seasons in 2025 but those three Grand Prix weekends might give him a slight edge over the likes of Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto and former F2 teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Journalist Nate Saunders was speaking on the Unlapped Podcast and explained that Ferrari staff have already been left very impressed by the British teenager.
Ferrari staff ‘really impressed’ with Oliver Bearman ahead of full Haas debut
Explaining Bearman’s rise to F1, Saunders said: “Another really likeable guy and kind of in contrast to Antonelli, signed by Ferrari quite young, moved from England over there.
“I spoke to him at Imola when he was doing his first couple of Haas practice sessions and by then he had already had that Ferrari debut.
“That was absolutely last-minute, Carlos Sainz had appendicitis and I remember when they said Oliver Bearman’s in, you just think, you’re making your debut not just at the last minute, but you’re making it for Ferrari, at a street circuit, one of the toughest challenges.
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“He finished down the order from where you would have expected Sainz to finish, but a really respectable performance and he did the one thing I think that he had to do, which was a clean race, kept it out of the wall and looked quick.
“He seems really, really quick and I think what a lot of people have said who I’ve spoken to about Bearman both at Ferrari and Haas is that they’re really impressed with the maturity on his shoulders, the way he talks to the team, the way he gives feedback stuff like that.
“We’re going to be saying this a lot but another really exciting young guy coming in.”
Oliver Bearman is currently Ferrari’s logical replacement for Lewis Hamilton
Bearman’s start to life in Formula 1 with Haas has a familiar feeling to it.
Leclerc was loaned to Sauber for his first F1 campaign from Ferrari but was quickly recalled after a very promising debut season.
While it’s highly unlikely Bearman will only spend a year at Haas, he can at least take inspiration from another driver on the grid.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver Oliver Bearman? Everything to know
George Russell was loaned to Williams for three seasons and while Toto Wolff admitted Russell spent too long away from Mercedes, it will give Bearman hope that if he performs at the required level, he could eventually end up at a leading team.
If Ferrari do eventually recall Bearman, he’s most likely to replace Hamilton due to his age.
The 40-year-old won’t want to stop racing for Ferrari any time soon if they’re winning, but eventually, all good things must come to an end.
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