Haas officially announced that Oliver Bearman will step in for Kevin Magnussen in the upcoming weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Magnussen is suspended for one race after collecting 12 penalty points on his license over the past 12 months.
Moreover, this marks to be Bearman’s second Formula 1 race as he previously replaced Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where he impressed by finishing at seventh.
Alongside Esteban Ocon, Bearman will race for Haas full-time in 2025.
Speaking of the news, Bearman said: “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.
Continuing with his conversation, he highlighted his sessions that will positively impact his performance on weekend in Baku.
“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,” he added. “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.”
In this regard, team boss Ayao Komatsu expressed excitement following Magnussen’s replacement was finalised.
“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,” Komatsu said.
He further added that this would turn out to be an excellent opportunity for Bearman 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,” he added.
