Bearman Shares First Thoughts After Being Announced As Replacement For Magnussen In Baku

Friday, 06 September 2024 at 14:00

Ollie Bearman, Haas's 2025 F1 driver, was confirmed to replace Kevin Magnussen for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Discover what he said in this article.

Kevin Magnussen received the last of the 12 penalty points on his driver's license during the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, which meant he received a one-race ban for the upcoming race in Baku.

As soon as it became clear that Haas would need to look for a replacement driver, it also instantly became clear that Ollie Bearman would probably be at the top of their list.

The 19-year-old is one of Haas's two reserve drivers for 2024. He has already been confirmed as their official F1 driver for 2025, and he already showed earlier this year (in Saudi Arabia) that he can jump in an F1 car with little to no preparation and perform right away.

On Friday, September 6th, Haas officially confirmed that Bearman will sit in Kevin Magnussen's car for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Here is the 19-year-old's reaction.

“"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."”

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“"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."”

Baku City Circuit requires the highest precision from every single driver, as the one that can come closer to the walls on the exit of each corner will be the fastest.

However, this won't be a problem for Ollie Bearman, who is already quite familiar with this circuit. During the last F2 season, he won both sprint and feature races in Azerbaijan.

Although a victory won't be on the table for him during the F1 race weekend this year, the 19-year-old will do his best to bring home at least one valuable point for Haas.