Haas explain Bearman’s contribution in FP1 sessions amid praise for his ‘pretty impressive’ feedback

Haas Aerodynamics Team Leader Luca Metelli has given an insight into the work being carried out by Oliver Bearman during his run of Free Practice 1 sessions with the team in 2024, amid his impending arrival as a full-time driver next season.

Having first participated in FP1 outings for the squad at the end of last year, Bearman was enlisted for a total of six further appearances throughout the current campaign.

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The first of these took place at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and he has since followed this up by getting behind the wheel in Barcelona and in front of his home crowd at Silverstone.

His drive at the British Grand Prix came just one day after it was confirmed that Bearman – who is currently competing in his second Formula 2 season with PREMA – will race for Haas in 2025, having agreed a multi-year deal with the American outfit.

This all follows on from the 19-year-old’s impressive performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where he was drafted in as a last-minute substitute for an unwell Carlos Sainz at Ferrari and went on to score his debut F1 points with a P7 result.

With this in mind, Metelli admitted on the day of Bearman’s latest FP1 run at Silverstone that the youngster’s prior experience at the Scuderia was proving to be a helpful factor in the feedback that he could offer during the sessions.

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“To start with, he’s going to run the car with the upgrades, so he’s going to give us feedback in terms of how the car feels compared to the last time he drove it,” Metelli explained.

“Because he also drove the Ferrari car, he gave us also feedback on what is different compared to Ferrari in terms of handling, in terms of aero characteristics.”

Asked if the team had witnessed a high level from Bearman in terms of what he is able to tell them after his FP1 drives, Metelli responded: “Yeah, it’s been pretty impressive.

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“[He’s been straight away] very, very fast, just a couple of tenths [away] from the official drivers, so it was pretty impressive and it was spot-on, so that’s why Ayao [Komatsu, Haas Team Principal] decided to give him this chance.”