Hamilton leads praise for Bearman: "It's amazing"
F1 News
The big news heading into the British Grand Prix weekend is that 2025 will see four Brits on the Formula 1 grid after it was announced Oliver Bearman will drive for Haas F1 in 2025. Lewis Hamilton, the most successful driver in F1 history, led the praise for his compatriot.
British drivers all support Bearman
Speaking on Thursday's media day ahead of the British Grand Prix weekend, the three Brits currently on the F1 grid (Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris) were all asked about Ollie Bearman joining the grid in 2025 with Haas.
Hamilton led the praise for the 19-year-old: "He did a phenomenal job earlier on this year," refering to Bearman's super-sub performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. "Bright young talent and I think it's great that the UK is pumping out a lot of great young talented drivers. Silverstone and the BRDC have been a part of that because they do invest in a lot of the sports young and up-and-coming drivers. It's amazing for the sport. It takes the pressure off of all of us for at least hopefully one of the Brits would be up there."
George Russell also admitted his confidence in Bearman stepping up in 2025. "Clearly Ollie is a great driver and it's great to see four Brits on the grid and I think it just goes to show the strength of British motorsport. When we were karting, the competition was so high and I think that translates into next year, 20% of the grid being Brits. It's great to see him there and I'm sure he'll do a great job."
Formula 1's newest race winner Lando Norris also praised Bearman's performance in Saudi Arabia: "I think he showed in Saudi how good of a job he can do, even under the pressure that he was in to perform and get so much out of the car in his first weekend. So, I'm excited to see him on the grid next year. He deserves it."
Bearman made his FP1 debut in Mexico last season for Haas and impressed instantly. At the start of 2024, he was announced as a reserve driver for Ferrari and Haas and got his chance at the top team when Sainz was unwell in Saudi Arabia. Despite having prepared for a weekend of F2 action and taking pole for the feature race, Bearman stepped into Sainz's Ferrari on Saturday and narrowly missed out on Q3, before finishing Sunday in P7 ahead of both Hamilton and Norris.