Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard rave about ‘amazing’ talent changing F1 teams in 2025

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As the grid starts to take shape for the 2025 F1 season there are a lot of exciting prospects that could be making their full-time debut.

Rumours over whether Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make his debut with Mercedes next season have intensified since he won his first F2 race at Silverstone, while Liam Lawson could finally get his full-time shot if he impresses Red Bull at a test.

One driver who is already guaranteed to make his debut next season will be 19-year-old Oliver Bearman. The British driver will form one-half of the Haas lineup, has signed for the American team on a multi-year deal.

Bearman impressed earlier in the season when he substituted Carlos Sainz at Ferrari during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with it becoming only a matter of time before a team announced he would get a full-time drive.

Speaking about the appointment on the Formula for Success podcast, former F1 driver David Coulthard and team owner Eddie Jordan praised the job done by Bearman so far and highlighted the difficulty he faced when replacing Sainz.

David Coulthard thinks Oliver Bearman is the ‘real deal’

Bearman has only recently won his first race in F2 having endured a tough start to his season with Italian outfit Prema, largely owing to the challenges presented by the new car introduced for this year.

But that has not stopped the Ferrari Driver Academy, which Bearman is a member of, and Haas from evaluating him purely based on his ability and maturity in other commitments.

Both Coulthard and Jordan raved about his performance and discussed how they expect him to adapt.

DC: “It’s going to be tricky for him, maybe at Haas, but EJ you were always one for giving young drivers a chance. Oliver Berman is the real deal. How do you see his future?

EJ: “Amazing. When we think back on the drive, Oliver did not know on Saturday that he was going to be driving the car. He wound up in the car and did an unbelievable job.

“When you think about the pressures, a new car, new team, trying to understand all the gadgets on the steering wheel and stuff like that. I think we have a great, great future in motor racing in Britain because there is such a swarm of young, major talents coming through.”

Oliver Bearman’s promotion great for British motorsport

Bearman’s promotion means a quarter of drivers on the F1 grid will come from the United Kingdom next year for the first time since 2013.

He will be Briton’s seventh driver in the last 20 years to compete full-time on the grid, following on from Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Paul Di Resta, Max Chilton, Lando Norris and George Russell.

If his F2 teammate, Antonelli, is promoted it will also see the first Italian driver on the grid since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2020, with the 17-year-old being only the second driver in the last decade from the country.

Esteban Ocon is the most likely candidate to partner Bearman at Haas after he decided to leave Alpine at the end of the season, but the rest of the driver market moves is dependent on Carlos Sainz’s decision.