Oliver Bearman has FOUR F1 teams interested after ‘outstanding’ Ferrari debut

F1 journalist Andrew Benson reckons there are as many as four teams interested in securing Oliver Bearman’s services for next season after his “outstanding” Ferrari debut.

Bearman was called up ahead of final practice to replace the unwell Carlos Sainz and impressed everyone in the paddock as he qualified P11, missing out on Q3 by 0.036s, and then raced his way to seventh place.

‘The obvious candidate is Haas…’

But alas for Bearman there won’t be a sensational step up from Formula 2 to Ferrari next season as the Scuderia have already completed their line-up with Lewis Hamilton joining Charles Leclerc.

Both drivers have multi-year deals so Bearman most likely won’t be in the Ferrari in 2026 either.

But that doesn’t mean the talented 18-year-old won’t be on the F1 grid next season.

Answering questions from BBC readers a Q&A, Benson was asked if Bearman deserved a spot on the grid.

He replied: “Without doubt – and his team-mate Charles Leclerc, among others, said as much.

“Where is it likely to be? Bearman is a member of the Ferrari driver academy, and they won’t be wanting to let him go. So the obvious candidate is Haas, which is a close partner of Ferrari.

“But quite a few teams are likely to be interested in him after his performance in Saudi Arabia, so Ferrari could just as easily do a deal with Williams, Sauber, or perhaps even Alpine.”

He added: “Oliver Bearman’s drive to seventh place on his debut for Ferrari was proof of nothing but his great talent.

“It was an outstanding performance, which was rightly lauded as indication of him being a potential future star.”

Benson’s comments come days after Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Ferrari to loan Bearman out to a rival team.

“If I were Fred Vasseur, I would immediately find Bearman an F1 cockpit in another team, I don’t know, at Haas for example,” he told Speedweek.

“Now they’re going to have to spend money again to train him. The teams are relatively financially saturated at the moment, so they will have to pay dearly.”

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What Charles Leclerc said after Ollie Bearman’s debut

Reflecting on Bearman’s race, Leclerc said his stand-in team-mate’s performance was “extremely impressive.

“I think everybody has seen that, but obviously having him in the same garage, seeing how he worked and how he approached this whole situation with so much calm was very, very impressive – obviously with so much excitement as well.

“But it was really impressive. I think he has shown the whole paddock what he was capable of and I think after a performance like that, it’s a matter of time before we see him permanently in the Formula 1 paddock.

“I mean he’s done an exceptional job to get into a Formula 1 car in FP3 when all the drivers have had FP1, FP2. You don’t know the car, the track is one of the most challenging of the season and you get there, you do the first three laps in FP3 and you are straight away on the pace and pushing the car to its limits.

“So it’s been super impressive to see him so fast straight away, super nice to see him so happy all weekend and so excited as he was, and he’s done an amazing job.”

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