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Bearman to replace banned Magnussen at Haas for Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Ollie Bearman will stand in for Kevin Magnussen at Haas for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix, following the Dane’s race ban for reaching the maximum 12 penalty points on his Super Licence.
Magnussen was handed a 10-second penalty and two penalty points when the stewards deemed he was “wholly to blame” for banging wheels with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly when trying a pass at the Italian Grand Prix.
READ MORE: Magnussen banned for Azerbaijan Grand Prix after being penalised for Gasly clash in Monza
With Bearman set to race full-time for Haas in 2025 alongside Esteban Ocon, the team moved to promote the Briton – who is dovetailing his role as a reserve for both Haas and Ferrari with a campaign in F2 this year – for the race in Baku.
It made sense for Haas to give Bearman the chance to familiarise himself with the team in a race seat for a full weekend before he makes his debut in next year’s season opener in Australia.
Bearman’s second career Grand Prix opportunity will come with Haas in Baku, ahead of moving to the team full-time in 2025
It means Bearman – who won his second F2 race of the season in Monza but is still 115 points off the lead with three events to go – will miss the F2 Sprint and Feature races in Baku.
Bearman made a stunning F1 debut earlier this year when he stood-in for the unwell Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the 19-year-old scoring points with a seventh-placed finish in the Ferrari.
He has been building up his F1 preparations with runs in FP1 for Haas this year, the fourth of six taking place in Hungary just before the summer break.
Magnussen can return to Haas for the following race in Singapore, with his Super Licence wiped clean of points for what will likely be his final seven Grands Prix in F1.
“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience," said Bearman.
"I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku. The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu added: “I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku. He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process.
"This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”
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