Racing
© Eterna
Oliver Bearman says the steep education of his first full Formula 1 season at Haas is already paying off, with the Briton carrying his rookie progress into 2026 after ending last year ahead of Esteban Ocon and opening this season eighth in the standings on 17 points after four rounds.
Bearman finished his 2025 rookie campaign 13th in the world championship, three points clear of Ocon and two places higher, but he said the bigger story was what that season taught him about being an F1 driver. In a Haas F1 team video, he called it “probably the most learning that I'll ever do in a year” because it was his “first time stepping into Formula 1” and “the first time and the last time that I ever have that experience.”
The adjustment was not only about driving a different car. Bearman said the scale of Formula 1 forced him to adapt quickly, having come from a Formula 2 environment with “20 people coming to the track” to a Haas operation with “almost 400 staff back at home.”
More important still was learning that an F1 driver is expected to shape the car, not just extract speed from it. Bearman said “the car's development hinges on feedback from its driver,” and admitted that was a role he had never really had before. “It took a good few races to understand my position within the team,” he said, adding that he is now “more outgoing, less afraid to speak up and to give my opinion.” He also said that arriving in Formula 1 means coming in “as a kid basically,” and having to earn the team’s trust before that feedback carries weight.
That growing confidence showed in his results as 2025 went on. His strongest run began at Zandvoort, where he recovered from the pit lane to finish sixth. He then put together five straight points finishes, before taking fourth in Mexico, a joint-best result for a Haas driver under team principal Ayao Komatsu.
The next step has come under another layer of pressure, with 2026 bringing Bearman’s first regulation change in Formula 1. He said he still has “a lot to learn” because some of his rivals have already experienced “two or three or four” such resets, but he sees that challenge as another chance to build on what he learned in 2025.
The early evidence is that the foundation is working. After four races, Bearman has 17 points and sits eighth in the drivers’ standings, while Ocon has one point in 16th. Bearman said his long-term target remains unchanged: “My goal in life is to become a world champion. I'm building the foundations to hopefully one day be in a position to do that.”