Oliver Bearman has conceded his struggles in the 2024 Formula 2 season left a “question mark” over his Formula 1 prospects prior to Haas announcing him for 2025.
Haas announced on the build-up to the British Grand Prix weekend that Bearman has signed a multi-term contract with the side to make his F1 bow from next season.
The Briton made two practice outings with the American team last term and has conducted two more this season, with another four penned for the remaining rounds.
Bearman expressed that he retained optimism that his break in the top tier would come based on how he performed in those opportunities across the last 12 months.
“I mean, of course I felt like I’ve been performing well since the beginning in free practices,” Bearman said.
“And obviously every time I’ve driven with Haas, I did the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, I’ve always got out of the car feeling like I’ve put in a good image of myself.
“I performed in a way that I was proud of, which is important to me.
“I knew that if I continue to do that, hopefully I would do enough to get an F1 seat. I’m happy that it’s confirmed and it’s finally the case.”
Bearman has revealed that plans to take him to Haas in 2025 were in the works, but he never allowed himself to be convinced a move was agreed until it was signed.
“Honestly, until it was finally confirmed after Red Bull Ring, on Sunday, because you know in F1, until you put a pen on a piece of paper, it’s not really official.
“So I knew that it was, we were working towards it, and we were pretty much getting there for a while.
“But you can never celebrate too soon, because F1 is a fast-moving world, and you’re only as good as your last race.
“I was of course relieved when it finally came about, and I shared that moment with my manager, who has been with me all the way. That was quite an emotional moment.”
Bearman was handed his unexpected F1 debut in Saudi Arabia in March when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and he was unable to compete.
As Ferrari’s reserve driver, Bearman stepped up to the plate and thrived amid challenging circumstances to beat Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton to seventh position.
But while that provided him a vital confidence boost, Bearman has admitted that languishing in 14th place in his sophomore year in Formula 2 created internal doubts.
“I do feel like the F1 running carried a lot of weight,” he admitted.
“Of course the race in Saudi, first of all, but even in my free practices and all my testing, it’s always been going pretty well.
“That for me carried a bit more weight. I think for the people that mattered, it also carried a bit more weight.
“But there’s no way of hiding behind the fact that in F2, it continues to be a little bit more difficult, and that always leaves a question mark in the back of your mind.”
Asked how important that race at Jeddah proved to be, Bearman replied: “I think the Saudi performance was the stars aligning moment that made my step into F1 possible.
“Because I think without that, it would really have been difficult, especially with how it’s going at the moment. So that really, really helped me.
“Also for my confidence, because you never really know how you’re going to perform until you race against real F1 drivers, and that was my opportunity and I felt like I did a decent job.”
Bearman proclaimed that having his future sorted will now alleviate the pressure that was building on his shoulders as he bids to get his F2 campaign back on track.
“It’s crazy how far away it [his F1 debut] is, but I’m also happy to get things done early, it’s something off my mind and no more stress after that,” he explained.
“Now I can focus on Formula 2 again, more now than ever because it is a really important part of the season and more now than ever because it is my home race – that’s a big one.
“After that I have a lot of time to prepare myself to be ready for the first race, technically, physically, I just need to be ready in all aspects.
“For example, with the car set up and stuff like this, there is a lot more aspects compared to F2. So I need to learn a bit.”
