Bearman denies theory over Haas F1 team-mate

Oliver Bearman insists that his team-mate at Haas in 2025 will have “nothing to do with me” beyond the expected learning process.

Bearman will make his full-time debut in 2025 but the identity of his team-mate is currently unknown with Nico Hulkenberg joining Stake and Kevin Magnussen departing the team, which was announced ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

Esteban Ocon is tipped to make the switch having lost his Alpine seat, but this is yet to be confirmed, with Ferrari protege Bearman keen for his team-mate not to be considered as a ‘mentor’.

“It won’t be their job to do that, but I think just in the actions of their driving, I can learn a lot,” Bearman told media including RacingNews365 when asked if he was expecting a mentorship.

“The main thing will be listening to their feedback, listening to their comments about the car, what they liked from the car and that will be the main way that they help me. 

“Of course, their job in the end is to race for themselves and it is nothing to do with me, but of course, I will learn a lot from their input.”

Learning the team

Bearman is already well-integrated at Haas having driven in FP1 sessions in 2023 and again throughout ’24, and will take to the Hungaroring once again for his fourth outing of the year. 

He believes being a part of the team will help soothe some of the teething troubles a new driver faces.

“It definitely helps me to have a lot of experience with the car, with the systems and that will definitely make my life a little bit easier when I finally jump in and can say it is my car,” he said.

“It will be a lot easier because there will be less things to learn on the spot, I’ll know the people and everything.

“So there will be fewer new faces which will be nice and of course, my team-mate will not have not. 

“It will help me out a little bit for sure, and hopefully, I can build off their experience as well.”