Oliver Bearman is hoping to learn from the experience of Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time world champion joins Ferrari in 2025, with the younger Briton still linked to the team through the Ferrari Driver Academy as he prepares to make his full-time F1 debut with Haas.
Bearman has long been affiliated with the Scuderia and made a memorable one-off appearance for the squad at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where he stepped in at short notice for an unwell Carlos Sainz and quickly impressed by scoring points in P7 around the challenging Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
While the teenager will be racing for Haas in 2025, he is likely to remain close to Ferrari and is looking forward to Hamilton bringing a “winning mentality” to the outfit.
“I think he’ll bring a lot of experience to the team,” said Bearman during an interview with Sky Sports F1. “He’s won seven world championships – that’s something that not many people can say.
“He’ll bring a good mentality to the team, a winning mentality, but of course his talent is undeniable. He’s one of the best to have ever done it.
“It’s great that in some way he can share his experience with me slightly. I hope that I will learn a lot from him and I hope that Ferrari will as well because I think he will be a great asset to the team.”
Bearman – who is currently competing in his second Formula 2 campaign with PREMA – will be focused on his rookie season with Haas in 2025. However, after becoming the youngest driver to race for Ferrari with his Jeddah appearance at the age of 18, his dream is to win a world championship with the Italian team.
“I think Ferrari is one of the most iconic brands in the world, of course within racing and F1,” Bearman explained. “If you draw a car, it’s red. It’s a brand that’s synonymous with racing, with victory, with success and with fantastic drivers as well.
“So, first of all, to have made my debut with Ferrari, that hasn’t happened for a very long time. And the fact that I became the youngest Ferrari driver was something very special for me.
“Of course, I want to win world championships, and to do that with Ferrari is my dream. They’ve been supporting me since 2021. They’ve seen something from me early on. They decided to trust in me, and even just to put me behind the wheel in Jeddah was a big risk from Ferrari’s side.
“So that shows that they believe in me, that they trust in my capability, and of course one day I would love to win a championship, especially with Ferrari.”