The Formula 1 driver market was a hive of activity to set the grid for the 2025 season with 10 pilots joining new teams, and Giedo van der Garde thinks one is a ‘diamond’.
Only half of the grid remained in place for the new campaign as Max Verstappen looks to be a five-time consecutive Formula 1 drivers’ champion. One of the moves saw Lewis Hamilton join Ferrari in a switch which forced Carlos Sainz out of the Scuderia and to sign for Williams.
Two other experienced drivers in Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon also found new homes, with the latter replacing the former at Haas following the German’s move to Audi via Sauber. Six pilots with fewer than 12 race entries to their names are also full-time F1 drivers in 2025.
Giedo van der Garde expects ‘a lot’ from new Haas driver Oliver Bearman
New Red Bull driver Liam Lawson after he replaced Sergio Perez plus Ocon’s Haas teammate Oliver Bearman officially will not count as rookies among F1’s Class of 2025 having started in 11 and three Grand Prix respectively. Bearman lost the rookie tag due to his cameos in 2024.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Jack Doohan for Alpine, Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls and Gabriel Bortoleto for Sauber make F1’s official 2025 rookie contingent. And Van der Garde is backing Bearman to use what he learned last year to challenge Ocon, who should lead Haas.
Van der Garde has told the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com that he believes Bearman was ‘insanely fast’ in his cameos in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with Ferrari plus the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Haas. So, the 19-year-old should thrive in 2025.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver Oliver Bearman? Everything to know
“[Bearman is] a very big talent and a guy I expect a lot from,” he stated. “Last year, things didn’t go great in Formula 2, but that had to do with the team not having things in order. And maybe his mind was already a bit on Formula 1 and that made him a bit less focused.
“However, he was insanely fast during his substitutions for Ferrari and Haas last year. In Saudi Arabia, he stood in for Carlos Sainz from the third practice and at the end of the race he drove almost the same lap times as Charles Leclerc. That really makes you no pancake!
“And how he did afterwards at Haas compared to Nico Hulkenberg in both qualifying and the races was also impressive. In the Brazilian rain, he had a bit more trouble, but that’s normal. A Formula 1 car is simply very difficult to drive on a wet track.
“He’s a diamond in the rough in my eyes. And I think he’ll do well alongside Esteban Ocon who, of course given his experience, should be the driving force at Haas. I expect him to overtake the Frenchman on a few occasions and at other times, he’ll be very close.”
Oliver Bearman set his own benchmark with the Haas driver’s historic cameos in 2024
Bearman made history with Ferrari and Haas in 2024 as the first F1 driver to score points for two different teams across his first two Grand Prix starts. The Briton overcame a late call-up to replace Sainz to finish in P7 in Jeddah, then came home in P10 in Baku on his Haas debut.
READ MORE: Haas driver Esteban Ocon’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
The teenager was also just 2.743 seconds away from being the highest-finishing British star in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix behind George Russell with Lando Norris and Hamilton behind. Even though Ferrari only ushered Bearman in ahead of FP3 as Sainz needed surgery.
But backing up his race in Jeddah when Bearman replaced the suspended Kevin Magnussen in Baku set an example for what the Chelmsford native will be expected to produce for Haas in 2025. He out-qualified Hulkenberg by 0.223s and wisely overtook him to score one point.
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