Oliver Bearman has just completed his first official session as a full-time Formula 1 driver for Haas on a very unique run programme.
Bearman completed the third-most laps of any driver on Wednesday morning, completing 72 rotations of Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit.
It’s important not to read too much into the timesheets, with the Haas driver sitting bottom of the pile in 10th place.
In fact, all nine teams other than the American outfit were within one second of Kimi Antonelli in first place. Bearman was four seconds off the pace, and clearly did not bother with any short running at all.
Instead, he opted to focus on where the points will be won this season, honing his race setup and getting a good understanding of his car’s behaviour under high fuel early on.
Bearman’s technical knowledge has been ‘very impressive’ at Haas and is something which will help him compared to the other rookies this season. It appears his experience as a replacement driver last year may have helped him.
Oliver Bearman gave a ‘big thumbs up’ after driving Haas’ 2025 F1 car at Bahrain testing
The youngest points scorer in Ferrari history knows that he has a chance to take Lewis Hamilton’s spot at the team once his contract with the Scuderia expires in 2026 (or 2027 is a one-year option is taken).
Bearman hopes to get stronger in his debut F1 season and showing development on the track and proving he can lead a team will be a good way to put a strong foot forward for a promotion.
With the 2026 F1 regulations nearing, he has a year with a little less pressure on his shoulders before he will be expected to deliver serious results.
READ MORE: Oliver Bearman jokes FIA have already made a ‘harsh’ decision against him ahead of the 2025 F1 season
After completing his first run in the VF-25, he offered Alex Brundle a positive reaction to his experience in the car.
“Oliver Bearman stops just short of a race distance, that would have been very satisfying wouldn’t it? First car across the line to achieve that,” he said.
“Got out of the car, just gave me a big thumbs up. What else was he going to do? He did stop short of coming over to chat to me, so I don’t ask him any difficult questions.”
Haas told they needed to pair Oliver Bearman with ‘spectacular’ F1 driver for 2025
Bearman’s teammate for 2025 will be incoming race winner Esteban Ocon – a man entering his 10th season in Formula 1.
The Frenchman has received criticism for clashing with his teammates in the past, but this time he has the responsibility to be the team leader and the older, theoretically wiser head.
Haas needed to pair Bearman with Hulkenberg according to Jaime Alguesuari, who performed very well with the team in his final season with them in 2024.
READ MORE: Oliver Bearman admits his 2025 ‘dream’ is to achieve something Haas have never done in Formula 1
The German has moved to rivals Sauber instead, but Ocon represents a longer term choice and could be the man to lead them to the front of the midfield.
Bearman certainly faces a tough challenge with his colleague, but he will also be able to learn a lot from a man who has driven for multiple teams during his career.
