A season of two halves
Oliver Bearman’s rookie season in Formula 1 can be divided into two distinct phases. After a start marked by highs and lows, partly due to errors and a lack of consistency, he grew in the second half of the year thanks to a dual breakthrough—both technical, with updates from Haas, and mental, as he revised his approach to race weekends.
In the first half, Ollie Bearman experienced a learning period, gradually adapting to an F1 car that is vastly different from the junior categories. In the second half, he emerged as one of the standout midfield drivers, aided by Haas’s decision to continue developing the car through to the final race of the season.
The technical upgrades introduced later in the season, particularly the package brought to Austin, made a noticeable difference in such a tight midfield where a few tenths of a second can change the scenario. Yet, it was not the only factor: Ollie Bearman’s personal growth was equally evident, especially in finding the consistency that had eluded him in previous categories.
Oliver Bearman has always been quick but sometimes inconsistent, prone to occasional mistakes. These issues resurfaced in the first races of the season, which is normal for a rookie needing time to adapt.
The Haas driver finished his rookie season in 13th place, two positions ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon, thanks to points scored after the summer break. Six of his nine points finishes came from the Dutch Grand Prix onward, including a fourth-place finish in Mexico after a long stint in the top three. On that occasion, Haas wisely consolidated their result instead of chasing an unrealistic target.
This was a stark contrast to the first part of the year, when he went nine races in a row without points. While the Austin floor update certainly helped, Bearman believes the real breakthrough came elsewhere: in his ability to grow, adapt, and deliver increasingly complete race weekends.
“Since the summer break, I’ve tried to give my weekends a bit more structure, to change how I approach them. I used to spend a huge amount of time on track… partly because the car was faster. Before the break, when we knew Q1 was already a challenge, I dedicated every minute to improving my driving or the setup to find those extra few tenths.”
“I wasn’t spending any time thinking about my mindset before getting in the car or setting session goals. Now, I make sure that thirty minutes before a session, I stop working on setup and focus entirely on my mental approach. I’ve found this method really useful.”
This echoes experiences similar to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was pressured heavily by Mercedes early in the season before the team adjusted his weekend duties to relieve him and improve performance.
These lessons are simply part of being a rookie in F1: every driver must face challenges to truly grow. “In the first half of the season, I finished eleventh in four or five races consecutively, so it’s not like I was performing terribly,” Bearman recalled when asked how different his season might have been if he had adopted this approach from the start.
It is often said that what matters is not how you fall, but how you get back up. The same applies to learning from mistakes, as Bearman’s early season included errors, some of which almost led to disqualification for exceeding penalty points. Key incidents included his crash entering the pit lane at Silverstone under a red flag.
Beyond these incidents, there was also a lack of consistency, partly due to limited knowledge of the car—a factor that improved as the season progressed. “Consistency was definitely missing, but the only way to understand what works is to make mistakes. It’s easy to say I could go back and apply this process, but that would be the ‘second-year me.’
“That’s the real difference. There are many things I would have done differently, many changes I would have made, but how could I have done that without knowing what works and what doesn’t? The first half of the season is purely exploratory, and it must be: you need to understand what works for you and what doesn’t. F1 is a very different sport from everything else I’ve done in life. Sure, I would have changed some things, but it’s not as simple as knowing what to do. You have to make mistakes to learn, and that really was the story of my season.”
This progress leaves him looking to the future with positivity, confident it has prepared him for a long top-level motorsport career. Oliver Bearman is already thinking ahead—not only to the next season, but especially to 2027. He has never hidden his ultimate goal: aiming high to be ready for a potential move to Ferrari in a few years, backed by his journey through the Ferrari Driver Academy.
“I’m satisfied. That doesn’t mean I’m a perfect or complete driver—I still have a lot to learn, and I’m aware of that. But I believe this awareness is fundamental. I feel I’m in a good place: the structure I’ve added to my weekends is working really well, and I’ve found some momentum and rhythm. And in this sport, rhythm is extremely powerful. Nothing has changed overnight—it’s also the result of the experience I’m gaining.”
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