Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman says he’s preserving ideas of a future transfer to the crew from his thoughts after securing an F1 seat with Haas for subsequent yr.
Haas confirmed immediately the 19-year-old might be one in every of their drivers subsequent yr.
Bearman will make his third look for the crew in a observe session this weekend. He mentioned the alternatives had been key to touchdown his full-time place on the crew subsequent yr.
“I felt like I’ve been performing effectively because the starting and free practices,” he informed media together with RaceFans immediately. “Truthfully, each time I’ve pushed with Haas, as I mentioned within the post-season check in Abu Dhabi, I’ve all the time bought out of the automotive feeling like I put picture of myself.
“I carried out in a method that I used to be happy with, which is essential to me. And I knew that if I continued to do this, hopefully I’d do sufficient to get an F1 seat.”
He realized he’ll turn out to be an F1 driver after final weekend’s spherical in Austria, the place he scored his first victory of the season in Formulation 2.
“In F1 till you set a pen on a bit of paper, it’s probably not official,” mentioned Bearman. “So I knew that we had been working in the direction of it and we had been just about getting there for some time.
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“However you may by no means rejoice too quickly as a result of F1 is a fast-paced world and also you’re solely pretty much as good as your final race. So I used to be, after all, relieved when it lastly happened and I shared that second with my supervisor, who’s been with me all the best way, and that was fairly an emotional second.”
Earlier Ferrari junior drivers who’ve arrived in F1 embody Charles Leclerc, who was promoted to the highest crew after one yr at Sauber, and Mick Schumacher, who was dropped by Haas after two years. Bearman admitted getting the possibility to affix Ferrari, who he appeared for instead in Saudi Arabia, “could be the dream” however “it’s probably not in my fingers, I really feel like.”
“All I can do is carry out at my finest and that’s my purpose anyway,” he mentioned in response to a query from RaceFans. “Every little thing that comes after that, that’s probably not inside my management. I’m specializing in my future with Haas in the meanwhile, and I’m actually excited to get began.”
Requested by RaceFans whether or not he may very well be well-placed to switch Ferrari’s incoming driver Lewis Hamilton when he retires, Bearman mentioned: “It’s exhausting not to consider that, however I’m not fascinated about it.”
He mentioned he hasn’t had discussions but with Ferrari about his targets for his debut F1 season in 2025. “There’s been nothing nothing particular but, actually, I’ve to sit down down with, with Ferrari and see precisely what they want,” he mentioned.
“However I don’t assume their expectation might be any tougher than mine, as a result of I’m already exhausting sufficient on myself. I demand a excessive stage of efficiency from myself at first. So I don’t want anymore motivation or stress.”
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Bearman revealed Hamilton despatched him a video encouraging him when he was racing in karts. “I believe he met one in every of my mum’s pals or one thing like this, and he she bought him to make a video,” Bearman defined. “It was essentially the most superb day of my life. And I simply really bought reminded of it yesterday, I noticed the video once more, and it was a humorous second.”
“I obtained a video from him in 2015 or ’16 saying ‘preserve pushing, hopefully you may make it to F1 someday’. It’s loopy to share this monitor with these guys who I’ve watched racing, even Fernando [Alonso], it’s one thing fairly particular. It’s a ‘pinch your self’ second as a result of these guys in my eyes are enormous stars and somebody that I look as much as and it’s fairly superb that I’ll share the circuit with them.”
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