Oliver Bearman snubs Lewis Hamilton as he names his ‘fantastic’ racing hero

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Oliver Bearman will join the Formula 1 grid in 2025 after signing a multi-year deal with Haas. Bearman is the first confirmed rookie in the field but others are set to follow.

Bearman’s Prema teammate Kimi Antonelli is poised to succeed Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. And his former F2 rival Jack Doohan is in pole position for the second Alpine seat alongside Pierre Gasly, according to Martin Brundle.

Unlike Antonelli and Doohan, Bearman has already had the opportunity to compete in an F1 Grand Prix. Ferrari called him up to race in Saudi Arabia at the last minute after the unwell Carlos Sainz had to withdraw.

Bearman went up against and beat two of his compatriots in Hamilton and Lando Norris. Together with George Russell, they’ll make up a fifth of next year’s grid.

The 19-year-old is the youngest confirmed driver for 2025, some four years younger than Oscar Piastri. While Antonelli is set to supplant him, he’s already the sport’s first driver born in the mid-2000s.

Bearman was born in 2005, the year Fernando Alonso won his first world championship. Hamilton was competing in Euro F3 at that time and would graduate to F1 two years later.

Oliver Bearman picks Michael Schumacher as F1 idol

Speaking in a Q&A on the Haas F1 social media channels, Bearman named Michael Schumacher as his racing idol. He wasn’t born when Schumacher won the last of his seven world championships at Ferrari in 2004, but he did see him make a comeback with Mercedes in 2010.

Schumacher’s comeback was largely a disappointment as he struggled up against young compatriot Nico Rosberg and Mercedes rarely competed at the front. But he did show flashes of his legendary talent, perhaps most notably his pole lap at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix (albeit undercut by a gearbox penalty).

Bearman will hope to follow in the German’s footsteps by racing for the Scuderia. If he delivers at Haas, he could be in pole position to succeed Hamilton when the Briton retires.

“Talking about racing heroes, I would have to say Michael Schumacher, just for the success he had at Ferrari and the victories he brought to the team,” Bearman said. “It was fantastic.”

The driver Schumacher called his best opponent in F1

In addition to his seven titles, Schumacher claimed 91 victories – a record that stood from 2006 until 2020, when Hamilton surpassed it. He’s also second all-time for pole positions (68) and podiums (155).

While he faced many formidable drivers in his career, Schumacher selected Mika Hakkinen as his best opponent. Hakkinen won back-to-back titles at the end of the 1990s but finished runner-up to the Ferrari ace in 2000.

Four-time world champion Alain Prost sees similarities between Schumacher and Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has been rapidly catching him in the all-time leaderboards.

Both drivers have come under scrutiny for their ruthlessness in wheel-to-wheel combat. Indeed, Schumacher made a ‘horrible’ move on Rubens Barrichello, his former teammate, at the 2010 Hungarian GP, very nearly squeezing him into the pit wall at top speed.