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Haas F1 TeamOliver Bearman is a British Formula One driver racing for Haas in 2026. He made his F1 debut aged 18 at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing seventh for Ferrari in a car he had never raced before, called up the same week that Carlos Sainz was hospitalised for appendix surgery. He is the first driver in F1 history to score points in his debut races for two different teams and a Ferrari Driver Academy member with a stated ambition to drive for Ferrari full-time.
He is 20 years old and in his second F1 season.
| Full name | Oliver James Bearman |
| Date of birth | 8 May 2005 |
| Birthplace | Havering, London |
| Raised | Chelmsford, Essex |
| Height | 172cm |
| Nationality | British |
| Nickname | Ollie |
| Current team | Haas F1 Team |
| Car number | #87 |
| Father | David Bearman, founder and CEO of Aventum Group |
| Brother | Thomas Bearman (also a racing driver) |
Bearman was born in Havering, London and grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, the eldest of three children. His father David is the founder and chief executive of Aventum Group, an insurance firm. His younger brother Thomas is also a racing driver, making motorsport a family occupation in both directions.
He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, one of the country's oldest selective schools. He left at sixteen.
When the Ferrari Driver Academy offered Bearman a place in 2022, he accepted it and moved to Modena, Italy. Alone, at sixteen, mid-education, he relocated from Essex to the city where Ferrari's junior programme is based. He has not spoken at length about what that transition cost personally. What it produced is on the record.
He chose car number 87 when he reached Formula One because it was the number on his kart the first time he raced competitively. Some things are worth keeping.
Bearman began competing at Trent Valley Kart Club in 2013 aged eight. He progressed through the Super 1 National Championships, finishing second in the Cadet category in 2016 and 2017. He won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix in 2017 and capped his karting career in 2019 and 2020 with victories in the IAME International Final, IAME Euro Series, and IAME Winter Cup across multiple categories.
By the time he moved to single-seaters in 2020, he had spent seven years establishing himself as one of the most decorated British junior karters of his generation.
Bearman made his single-seater debut in 2020 across the ADAC and Italian F4 championships, finishing seventh in Germany and winning his first race in Italy. In 2021, with Van Amersfoort Racing, he dominated both championships simultaneously.
In Italy he won eight races in the season, including hat-tricks at Vallelunga and Imola. In Germany he won the title alongside it. He became the first driver in history to win both the Italian F4 and ADAC F4 championships in the same season. That record is what earned him a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Bearman joined Prema Racing for the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2022, his first season outside of Formula 4. He finished third in the championship in his rookie year, demonstrating consistency and race pace on a more competitive grid that included several future F1 drivers.
Bearman spent two seasons in FIA Formula 2 with Prema. In 2023 he finished sixth in the championship, winning several races. His 2024 F2 campaign was disrupted by his call-ups to race in Formula One, which required him to temporarily leave the F2 grid mid-season.
In October 2023, he completed his first private test in a Formula One car at Ferrari's Fiorano circuit. In November 2023 he made his first FP1 appearances, running the Haas VF-23 at the Mexican Grand Prix and finishing 15th, only three tenths behind race driver Nico Hulkenberg. Haas described themselves as "very impressed."
On 7 March 2024, Ferrari announced that Carlos Sainz had been diagnosed with appendicitis and would not race at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. As Ferrari's official reserve driver, Bearman was called up.
He was 18 years old. He had never started a Formula One Grand Prix. He had tested the car once, in a private session at Fiorano five months earlier. He qualified eleventh.
On race day he finished seventh, scoring six championship points for Ferrari. He was the first driver to make an F1 race debut for Ferrari since 1972. He was also the youngest Ferrari F1 driver in the modern era.
After the race, he described himself as "destroyed" in the best possible sense. The paddock had seen what it needed to see.
Later in 2024, Bearman substituted twice for Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Magnussen was serving a one-race ban. Bearman qualified eleventh and finished tenth, scoring one point for Haas.
He became the first driver in Formula One history to score points in his debut races for two different teams: Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, Haas in Azerbaijan. At São Paulo, replacing Magnussen again due to illness, he finished twelfth.
Three races, two teams, three points, and a record before his first full season had started.
Bearman joined Haas as a full-time race driver for 2025, partnering experienced French driver Esteban Ocon. The pairing placed one of the sport's most seasoned midfield competitors alongside one of its most recently arrived.
Bearman outscored Ocon across the season. His best result was fourth at the Mexican Grand Prix, the best finish of Haas's entire 2025 campaign. He was 20 years old at the race. When he realised mid-battle that he was wheel to wheel with four-time world champion Max Verstappen, he later admitted he was terrified. He held his position. He finished fourth.
That combination of fear and follow-through is a reasonably good description of who he is.
He scored points in several other races across the year, establishing himself as a consistent midfield performer in his first full season and prompting paddock observers to reassess the timeline of his development.
Bearman enters 2026 in his second full F1 season with Haas, contracted to the team until at least the end of the year. The sweeping 2026 technical regulation changes introduced new power units and aerodynamic concepts across the entire grid.
Where many experienced drivers have spoken about the difficulty of adapting, Bearman has framed it differently. He has changed category or car concept every year of his career except one. Regulation resets are, in his own words, more normal to him than to most.
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has publicly suggested that Bearman could form part of a future Ferrari "super team" alongside Charles Leclerc. Bearman has said his ambition is to return to Ferrari as a full-time driver. He has also said, with characteristic honesty, that he has not yet formally discussed that future with the team. The ambition and the institutional confirmation are not yet the same thing.
What is confirmed is a structured development relationship between Ferrari and Haas in which both teams coordinate on his progress. It is not simply a loan arrangement. Ferrari has a plan for Oliver Bearman. Whether 2026 accelerates it depends on what he delivers in a Haas that will, under new regulations, have an opportunity to surprise.
Bearman lives in Monaco, as most F1 drivers do. He is 20 years old. His brother Thomas continues to race in junior categories. His family's support for both brothers in motorsport reflects a household in which racing is not an unusual ambition.
He is known in the paddock as approachable, self-aware, and unusually candid for someone at the beginning of a high-profile career. The willingness to admit he was frightened while battling Verstappen, rather than performing composure he did not feel, is a character detail that matters more than it might appear.
| Year | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ferrari / Haas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | — |
| 2025 | Haas | 24 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 10th |
| 2026 | Haas | — | — | — | — | In progress |
Career totals (F1): 0 wins, 0 podiums, 69 points, 27 race starts
Last updated March 2026
