‘Confident’ 18-year-old has been doing Haas simulator work amid 2025 F1 seat claims

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Oliver Bearman appears to be stepping up his preparations to race in Formula 1 one day and has been working in Haas’s simulator alongside his F1 practice sessions.

Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg will both know they’re in the final year of their contracts and the 18-year-old Brit working more closely with the team might set alarm bells ringing.

In a report from The Athletic, more details about Ollie Bearman’s work behind the scenes have been outlined.

For the first time in F1 history, the 2024 grid in Bahrain will be identical to the line-up in Abu Dhabi at the end of last season.

There were a few drivers who didn’t put in the best performances over the course of the year, but their teams stuck by them.

The final man to have his contract extended was Logan Sargeant, but he’ll be well aware that a new batch of young drivers are looking for a seat in Formula 1 next year.

With so many contracts expiring at the end of 2024, there might be a few opportunities cropping up over the course of the year.

Ollie Bearman is one man trying to take advantage of that and he’s been working in Haas’s simulator to get ready in case he gets the call-up.

Bearman has been linked with a Haas seat in 2025 and the Ferrari junior driver could benefit from his team’s relationship with the American manufacturer.

However, he’s still relying on Guenther Steiner deciding he wants to replace one of his two extremely experienced drivers with a rookie.

Bearman working in Haas simulator amid F1 links

The report from The Athletic suggests that after Bearman’s FP1 debut in Mexico City, he didn’t attend another F1 race until Abu Dhabi.

However, he kept working with Haas away from the track, working in their simulator to continue to get used to driving a Formula 1 car.

While many teams rotated the youngsters, they handed valuable practice sessions to, Haas were happy for Bearman to drive for them on both occasions.

Speaking about the 18-year-old, Steiner said: “He did a good job and stayed very calm. He behaved very maturely for an 18-year-old and also delivered a good performance in the car.

“He’s confident, but not overly confident, that’s a fine line.”

Bearman is one of the favourites for the F2 title this year and has been told he ‘ticks all the boxes’ to drive in Formula 1 eventually.

Haas will be examining Bearman’s performances in the simulator closely to see if he has what it takes to drive for them one day.

He appears to be at the front of the queue of a gaggle of youngsters hoping to break into F1, however, he needs to defeat all of his rivals in Formula 2 to prove that he’s the real deal.