Haas reveals Oliver Bearman stance with seat not yet secure

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has made it clear he wants to continue with Ollie Bearman with the team next season, with his future not yet confirmed.

Haas signed a fellow Ferrari junior in Rafael Camara on a multi-year deal earlier in the week, but while Bearman’s seat has not looked in danger this year, his continuation in Formula 1 is yet to be finalised.

Ollie Bearman Haas future ‘just a matter of timing’

As a Ferrari junior himself, Bearman has driven for Haas for the past two seasons as the Scuderia sought to find a path for one of its young drivers.

He’s set to be joined by another Ferrari product in Camara next season, with the Brazilian having impressed in his progress through the junior categories.

Komatsu confirmed that, with the sister Haas seat currently vacant at this stage, he’s not looking elsewhere.

“I cannot go into certain contractual details, but for me, of course I’d like to continue with Ollie,” Komatsu said to PlanetF1.com and other media.

“He’s an incredible talent, he showed amazing growth and then this year, he’s shown that he’s ready to be a team leader, and then you also have how he raced in Singapore, which was very very impressive.

“It’s just a matter of timing. It’s just a matter of ratifying little certain details but, yes, it is our intention to continue with Ollie, but then a formal announcement will come in due course.”

Bearman has held the upper hand against Ocon in head-to-head battles in both their seasons driving together at Haas, with the young Briton having scored 23 points to Ocon’s seven at this stage of the season.

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With two Ferrari juniors set to battle it out at Haas, Komatsu said he sees similarities in both drivers, with Camara having stood out in what he admitted was a “clear shootout” test between four drivers in Portugal in the summer.

“In terms of potential we see, I would say equally exciting, very, very similar, but in the details,” the Haas team principal explained about the two driver.

“I think it’s different because what impressed me most with Ollie was how he understood the overall situation, how he understood his role, how he executed in the FP1 in Mexico, first time in an F1 car.

“That’s a very different scenario to what Rafa had in Portimao, which was a clear shootout, right? The first time he’s jumping in our car.

“Speed, honestly, excitement about the speed, I would say similar [to Bearman], but in terms of how we are impressed with Rafa is really the judging those conditions. The condition was changing like every minute, every lap. No two laps were the same. So that was impressive.

“Also knowing it’s a shootout, how he created his environment so that he can focus on what he needs to do and how he wasn’t fixated about the outcome.

“The similar bit [with Bearman] is, other than the speed, is just the potential. How we can grow together, how we can nurture this talent, how we can flourish his potential, so that is the common exciting factor.”

Additional reporting by Sam Hall

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