Martin Brundle says Ferrari ‘must be eyeing’ one F1 driver as Lewis Hamilton’s struggles continue

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Ferrari wouldn’t have been expected to be considering a succession plan for Lewis Hamilton already, but Martin Brundle thinks team principal Fred Vasseur already needs to be looking at one driver on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton will start the final race of the 2025 F1 season from the eighth row of the grid after a third successive Q1 exit.

Hamilton started from P16 last season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and recovered to fourth on his final outing as a Mercedes driver.

His switch to Ferrari hasn’t been as successful as many fans would have hoped, and he’s in a battle with Andrea Kimi Antonelli to finish sixth in the drivers’ championship on Sunday.

Hamilton is on a three-year deal at Ferrari that will give him time to adapt to Formula 1’s new regulations, although questions are already starting to be asked about how long he might continue for if the Scuderia continue to be uncompetitive.

Martin Brundle now believes that Ferrari will be taking a very close look at Haas driver Oliver Bearman as a potential replacement for either Hamilton or the recently-linked away Charles Leclerc.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Martin Brundle suggests Ferrari ‘must be eyeing’ Oliver Bearman in the driver market

David Croft was commentating on qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sky Sports F1 (6/12 2:28 pm) after Hamilton’s Q1 exit.

Examining the performance of Bearman as he narrowly missed out on another Q3 appearance, Croft said: “So, this man’s hooked a lap up, or several at the end of the season. He’s only been outqualified by his teammate, Esteban Ocon, once in the last eight races, and that was in Las Vegas.

“He’s finishing with an absolute flourish in his rookie season, Ollie Bearman.

“Had that DNF in Qatar, ended a five-race scoring streak, which is the longest points scoring streak ever by a Haas driver.

“It featured his best result in his career, fourth in Mexico City, and has outscored his teammate, has outqualified his teammate. I’m sure he’ll sit down to Christmas lunch thinking this hasn’t been a bad year, really?”

Brundle replied: “It’s been a cracking year, and Ferrari must be eyeing him up to put him in a seat when they have one available.

“Ollie Bearman, looking the real deal. He still makes mistakes because he’s young, but you can fix that.

“You can’t fix it if the driver’s not fast enough, and he appears to be fast enough.”

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver Oliver Bearman? Everything to know

Oliver Bearman being prepared for Ferrari call-up as 2025 form continues to impress

Bearman’s position with the Ferrari academy makes him an obvious candidate to fill a seat within the team if Hamilton or Leclerc were to depart.

However, the likes of Oscar Piastri have been linked with Ferrari, suggesting that Vasseur is exploring all of his options in the driver market as the Scuderia look to end their wait for a championship.

Bearman has an outside chance of finishing in the top 10 of the drivers’ championship, but could need to outscore Isack Hadjar by more than 10 points, as well as hope Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso don’t add to their respective tallies.

Is Oliver Bearman the right choice to fill the next empty race seat at Ferrari?

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Speaking in his official post-qualifying media session, Bearman said: “It’s a shame to miss out, but it was a very tight session and every millisecond counted out there tonight.

“Ultimately, I had a bit of an interrupted qualifying, being on a used set for my first run in Q2, then, as a result, it was a big jump to go onto the new set.

“The car has the pace, but I just didn’t quite put the lap together. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow as I think there will be some opportunities, and generally the car has been quick all weekend.”

Ferrari have privately been impressed with Bearman during his full maiden F1 campaign, but whether he’s a championship-winning driver is yet to be seen.

The trouble is that Ferrari haven’t proved capable of building a fast enough car to challenge for a title, regardless of who’s driving for them.