RacingHaas is prepared to see Oliver Bearman leave for Ferrari if that means it has done its job well enough. That was the striking message from team principal Ayao Komatsu as he discussed the 20-year-old Ferrari-backed driver’s rise, with Bearman already helping Haas sit fourth in the Constructors’ Championship after the opening races of 2026.
Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Komatsu said Haas would treat a future Ferrari promotion as something earned, not something to fear. “There is no reason to worry about that. We strongly believe we should focus on things we can control,” Komatsu, Haas team principal, said on the podcast. He said Bearman’s longer-term future “will be a discussion between us and Ferrari,” and added: “Even if it leads to us losing him next year, of course we would like to avoid it, but that is not something we can control.”
Komatsu framed that as part of Haas’s role in Bearman’s development. Ferrari has backed Bearman for years, and Haas has now given him race opportunities across two seasons. “Ferrari has invested in him for many years. We have used him last year and this year. So if we do a great job with Ollie, he delivers performances to that level, and Ferrari wants him for next year, then it means we have accomplished the job. If that’s the case, I think we should be satisfied,” Komatsu, Haas team principal, said on the Beyond the Grid podcast.
Those comments carry more weight because Bearman’s start to 2026 has been strong. According to the season summaries, he finished seventh and fifth in the first two races, scoring 17 points to sit seventh in the Drivers’ Championship. Haas, according to the same summaries, is fourth in the Constructors’ standings.
That run hit a setback at Suzuka, where Bearman crashed out of the Japanese Grand Prix after a 50G impact while trying to avoid the slower Alpine of Franco Colapinto. Bearman said he escaped without serious injury and is already focused on the next race. “It could have been a lot worse, so I'm very, very thankful and looking forward to getting back out in Miami,” Bearman, Haas driver, told SPORTbible.
Komatsu’s view of Bearman’s potential has not changed. “I haven’t seen his limit yet. I’m really looking forward to this year. He has very great potential,” Komatsu, Haas team principal, said on the Beyond the Grid podcast.
He made the same point when discussing Bearman’s progress more broadly in comments about Haas’s 2026 campaign. Komatsu said the driver has kept improving in and out of the car. He pointed to Bearman’s fourth place in Mexico in 2025 and to the way he now works with the team day to day. “Mexico, P4, was amazing under huge pressure,” Komatsu, Haas team principal, said in comments about Haas’s 2026 season. He added that in testing, “working with the engineers, mechanics, feedback, all the quality has improved,” before concluding: “We already enjoy working with him and, at the moment, I can’t see the ceiling, so that’s the exciting part.”