Oliver Bearman is set to step into Kevin Magnussen’s car for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as confirmed by Haas on Friday. Magnussen is unable to participate in the Baku race due to a suspension.
Magnussen’s suspension came as a result of accumulating twelve penalty points within a year. The final two of these points were awarded to the Danish driver for his incident with Pierre Gasly in Monza. The two drivers collided when Magnussen attempted to overtake the Frenchman. Magnussen himself was baffled by the penalty and subsequent suspension, as he believed the incident was trivial.
Despite the driver’s protests, Bearman will be stepping into the VF-24 alongside Nico Hülkenberg in Baku. Haas had previously confirmed that Bearman, along with Esteban Ocon, will be the two drivers for Haas in 2025. “It’s certainly a bigger challenge to appear as a reserve driver,” Bearman responds via Haas’s official press release. “I’m fortunate to have already done it earlier this year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least use that experience.” Bearman promises his team that he will prepare as best as possible for the Azerbaijani race.
‘An Excellent Opportunity to Work Together’
Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu is looking forward to Bearman’s upcoming race. “I’m pleased that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku,” says the Japanese team leader. “He has already shown promise in his VT1 test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, where he scored points. This is once again an excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for a better teammate than Nico to give him a reference.”
