Ollie Bearman will get a second chance as a replacement in Formula 1 in 2024.
Haas announced on Friday that Bearman would replace Kevin Magnussen at next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Magnussen is suspended from the race by the FIA after receiving an avoidable contact penalty at the Italian Grand Prix. The penalty resulted in Magnussen’s 12th penalty point of the past calendar year. That threshold carries a one-race suspension.
Magnussen is the first driver to be banned for penalty points since Romain Grosjean in 2012. They are the only two drivers to receive a one-race ban for penalty points in the 2000s.
Bearman, 19, will step into Magnussen’s car for a full-time job at Haas in 2025. The Ferrari reserve driver will race for Haas next season, alongside Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg is moving to Sauber and Magnussen is a free agent. Bearman has also driven several practice sessions for Haas this season.
“I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku,” Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said in a statement. “He has already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season testing, and he performed very well driving for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, scoring points.
“This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time over a full race weekend, and he couldn’t have wished for a better teammate than Nico to serve as a reference.”
The previous substitute appearance Komatsu mentions was when Carlos Sainz missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix due to an appendectomy. Bearman started the second race of the season in 11th place and climbed four places over the course of the race to finish seventh, ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
