Haas reveal plans for highly-rated Ferrari junior as he steps up to reserve role

Ferrari youngster Oliver Bearman will take part in six FP1 sessions for Haas in 2024 as his training to be an F1 driver continues.

The 18-year-old Briton was named a reserve driver for Ferrari this year but, as was the case with Charles Leclerc in the past, his services can be lent to Ferrari-powered teams.

To that extent, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has revealed just how much they plan to use the driver this season as he also competes in F2.

Oliver Bearman set for Haas duties in F1 2024 season

Bearman will share reserve duties with long-time Haas servant Pietro Fittipaldi, allowing him to complete the F2 season and any Ferrari tests, with the latter completing around half of the season with the American outfit.

As for Bearman, having taken part in FP1 in Abu Dhabi last year, Komatsu believes making the step up is easy for “somebody of his capability.”

“Pietro has been with the team for a long time, and he’s always prepared, very professional,” the Japanese team principal said. “Even when he’s not driving, he pays attention to everything he can so when we’ve put him in the car – like after Romain’s incident – he’s ready. He works very well with the team so I’m really happy to have him for about half of the season – because of the IndyCar program.

“For those races he will be available to us, he will be our reserve driver. Ollie has done a fantastic job in his FP1 sessions as well as Abu Dhabi testing so he’ll be a core part of the team. I’m really looking forward to working with both of them.”

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“I think again it’s incremental improvements. Also, when things are going well, it’s actually pretty easy for somebody of his capability. When things don’t go according to plan, hopefully not, but if you have a car problem you will spend a bit more time in the garage than you ideally wanted. How you handle those situations is a big part of the problem.

“I hope we don’t have many of those but that will be a good learning curve for him. In terms of baseline, he’s got a very good baseline, so we’re really looking to improve on the details.”

Bearman joined the Ferrari academy in 2022 and finished sixth in the 2023 F2 championship with PREMA.

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