Formula 1 News: Ferrari to release Bearman to Haas for Baku (Update)

Ollie Bearman will stand in for Kevin Magnussen at Haas for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix, following the Dane’s race ban for reaching the maximum 12 penalty points on his Super License.

Magnussen was handed a 10-second penalty and two penalty points when the stewards deemed he was “wholly to blame” for banging wheels with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly when trying a pass at the Italian Grand Prix.

With Bearman set to race full-time for Haas in 2025 alongside Esteban Ocon, the team moved to promote the Briton – who is dovetailing his role as a reserve for both Haas and Ferrari with a campaign in F2 this year – for the race in Baku.

It made sense for Haas to give Bearman the chance to familiarize himself with the team in a race seat for a full weekend before he makes his debut in next year’s season opener in Australia.

“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience,” said Bearman.

“I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku. The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu added: “I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku. He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process.

“This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”

(GMM) Ferrari is not yet ready to confirm that it will release its reserve driver Oliver Bearman for another one-off Formula 1 race.

Kevin Magnussen’s clash with Pierre Gasly at Monza tipped the Haas driver over the 12-penalty point limit on his super license – resulting in an automatic one-race ban for Baku.

Team boss Ayao Komatsu confirmed that Haas will not appeal.

“We accept the punishment,” he said.

Magnussen is not being retained by the small American team beyond 2024, but Komatsu also confirmed that he is not unhappy with the 31-year-old’s driving.

“Kevin’s drive when he realized he had to open a ten-second gap to (Alex) Albon was fantastic,” said the Japanese. “Just fantastic.

“As a team we actually made a mistake with the strategy. We should never have put Kev in that situation behind Gasly. There was no reason not to box one lap earlier.

“Suddenly he was close to Gasly and tried to overtake – then the collision and ten-second penalty. Totally unnecessary on our side, right?” Komatsu added.

“Kev fights hard, he fights aggressively, and in some cases where there were penalties he was maybe a little too aggressive. But this time he tried to fight hard and just locked a wheel and pushed Gasly off the track. So he got a penalty and I accept it.”

It makes total sense that Haas will put Oliver Bearman, its confirmed full-time rookie for 2025, in Magnussen’s car for the Azerbaijan GP.

The problem is that Briton Bearman, 19, would have to miss a round of the Formula 2 championship, although it is true that he is not a title contender.

A bigger problem is that the move would deprive Ferrari of the Italian team’s full-time reserve driver.

When asked if he is open to releasing Bearman to Haas for Baku, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur answered on Sunday: “Let me focus on Ferrari tonight, as we have just won a race.

“I’ll just have to think about it,” the Frenchman added. “I didn’t even know Kevin was out (for Azerbaijan).”

As for Magnussen, he has expressed a desire to race in a minor league series – like WEC or IndyCar – next year if he is not able to keep his F1 race career alive.

However, Ekstra Bladet newspaper reports that Haas owner Gene Haas may actually be offering Magnussen a full-time non-racing role at the team for 2025.