Oliver Bearman: Ferrari Academy Graduate, Haas Points Scorer and Formula 2 Winner

Oliver Bearman rose from karting in Essex to the Ferrari Driver Academy at sixteen. His route then ran through two Formula 4 titles in 2021, Formula 3 and Formula 2 before his first Formula One start at eighteen. He now races for Haas, the American team that signed him as a full-time driver for 2025.

His early career shows a driver who won early and often in junior formulae, and who has had to rebuild his form after several tough seasons. The record is still developing, which is why the detail matters.

How did Bearman start out in karting?

Bearman started competitive kart racing in 2013 with the Trent Valley Kart Club. He then moved to the Super 1 National Championships, where he finished second in 2016 and 2017 in the Cadet category. He won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix in 2017, and he finished his karting years strongly in 2019 with the IAME International Final, the IAME Euro Series and the IAME Winter Cup.

He was born on 8 May 2005 in Havering, London, and grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, where he attended King Edward VI Grammar School. He left school at sixteen to join the Ferrari Driver Academy in Modena, Italy. He later chose 87 as his permanent Formula One number because he had first used it in karting.

Karting also produced a record. In July 2025 he set a new track record at a karting circuit in Varberg, Sweden, though the previous holder, Elton Zevenwacht, later reclaimed it.

A record of early titles, a rookie double in Formula 2 and a Formula One debut that scored points at eighteen.

How did Bearman begin in single-seaters?

Bearman stepped up to single-seaters in 2020, running with US Racing in the German ADAC F4 series and contesting three rounds of the Italian championship. He scored a debut victory at the Hockenheimring and finished seventh in the German standings with 144 points. In Italy he won at Vallelunga and finished tenth overall.

The following year he moved to Van Amersfoort Racing to double up in the German and Italian F4 championships, and he came out with both titles. He won the Italian crown with eleven wins, fifteen podiums and 343 points, which put him 111 ahead of his nearest rival. In Germany he won six races and took eleven podiums, and he became the first driver to win two successive Formula 4 titles in one year.

The Italian campaign had a setback when a disqualification at Imola for an engine irregularity cost him a winning streak. In Germany a collision with Luke Browning on the opening lap prevented a clean sweep at the first round. In September 2021 he was nominated for the Autosport BRDC Award, and in December he received the Henry Surtees Award.

In the 2021 season he also raced in the British GB3 Championship with Fortec Motorsports. He opened with two second-place finishes at Brands Hatch and won the opening race at Snetterton, and he took pole for the first Silverstone race before losing a front-left wheel on lap two. He finished the year 14th with 163 points.

In the winter of 2022 he joined Mumbai Falcons for the final two rounds of the Formula Regional Asian Championship. A podium in only his second race, at the Dubai Autodrome, was the highlight, and he finished 15th in the standings.

How was his first season in FIA Formula 3?

Bearman joined Prema Racing for the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship and finished third in his rookie season. He took one win, eight podiums and 132 points, seven behind champion Victor Martins. The season also gave him his first feature-race podium, at Silverstone, where he had started sixth.

The year began with a first race win in Bahrain that was taken away. He was penalised for track limits breaches and demoted to second. Imola was tougher: a collision with Gregoire Saucy at the penultimate corner sent the Swiss driver out and dropped Bearman from fourth to 17th after the race.

He won his first Formula 3 sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps after the summer break, then finished third in the feature race. The title battle ended at Monza, where a red flag cut his feature race short while he was running second. He later said he regretted the races where he had needlessly lost points, but he was content with third overall.

How did Formula 2 go in 2023 and 2024?

In 2023 Bearman drove for Prema alongside Frederik Vesti and finished sixth overall. He recorded four wins, five podiums and two pole positions. His first Formula 2 win came at Baku, where he also set pole, and he became the second youngest race winner in the series history.

At Baku he also won the feature race the next day, making him the ninth driver in GP2 and Formula 2 history to win both races in one weekend. It was only the fourth time a rookie had managed that double. Later in the season he added wins at Barcelona and Monza, and he finished the year with 130 points.

The 2023 mid-season had its ups and downs. He retired from the Monaco sprint with a suspension problem, and at Silverstone a spin and contact with Kush Maini brought a five-second penalty. He returned to the podium in Hungary, finishing third after a late lunge on Theo Pourchaire.

The 2024 season opened slowly. He failed to score in Bahrain after qualifying 18th, and he was held in a double-stacked pit stop under the safety car in Melbourne before finishing ninth in the feature race for his first points of the year.

The 2024 season with Prema, alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli, was harder. The team struggled with the new regulations, and Bearman withdrew from Jeddah to replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. He won three races that year, with his first coming in the Austrian sprint, where he held off Pepe Marti. He finished 12th in the championship with 75 points.

How did the Ferrari Driver Academy lead to Formula One?

Bearman was a finalist in the Ferrari Driver Academy Scouting World Final in October 2021 and joined the academy the following month alongside karting champion Rafael Camara. In October 2023 he made his first Formula One test in a private session at Fiorano with Ferrari, and he made his free practice debut for Haas at the Mexico City Grand Prix that year.

In January 2024 Ferrari named him as a reserve driver for the season, and he also drove for Haas as a reserve at several events. Ferrari then called him up at short notice for the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Carlos Sainz withdrew with appendicitis after the second free practice session.

Bearman qualified 11th, missing Q3 by 36 hundredths, and then held off Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages to finish seventh. That was his first points on debut, and he became the youngest driver ever to compete for Ferrari. Fans voted him Driver of the Day, and he later received wide praise from drivers and critics.

What did his Haas debut season bring?

Bearman was partnered by Esteban Ocon at Haas in 2025, when he became a full-time driver. He scored his first points with eighth in China, after disqualifications for both Ferrari drivers. He then finished fourth at the Mexico City Grand Prix, the joint-highest result by a Haas driver since the team's debut in 2016.

The 2025 season opened badly at Australia. He crashed in both practice sessions he entered, missed the second because of collision damage, and could not qualify after a gearbox issue. The FIA then allowed him to start, and he finished 14th, last of the finishers.

In Qatar he qualified 13th and retired after a penalty for an unsafe release. He had finished 17th at Emilia Romagna and 12th at Monaco, where a red flag infringement brought a penalty.

His strongest run came late in the year. He scored four consecutive points finishes, a record for any Haas driver, and finished sixth at Sao Paulo. He then took tenth at Las Vegas after the McLaren disqualifications, and in Abu Dhabi he finished tenth before a five-second penalty. Haas finished eighth in the constructors' championship that year.

His Azerbaijan appearance for Haas in 2024 also set a record of its own, as he became the first driver to score points for two different teams in his first two races.

How has the 2026 season gone so far?

Bearman remained at Haas for 2026 alongside Esteban Ocon. He began the season with seventh in Australia for six points. In China he finished eighth in the sprint and fifth in the main race. He crashed out of the Japanese Grand Prix in the twenty-second lap, then took eleventh at Miami and tenth at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Later rounds were harder. He retired in the thirtieth lap at Monaco with damage to his car, and he finished 14th in Austria, 12th at Silverstone and 14th in Belgium. At the Hungarian Grand Prix he finished 19th after a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags. His contract with Haas runs to at least the end of 2027.

Other racing outside Formula One

Bearman also tried a Super Formula car in December 2024. He was third in the morning at Suzuka, but engine trouble limited his afternoon running, which he called a bit sad.

Career summary