How difficult can it be for a Formula 2 driver to just jump in a Formula 1 car and push it to the maximum? It’s got to be quite difficult because an F1 car is on a different level compared to F2. And that’s what made the debut of the Ferrari junior driver, Oliver Bearman so special in Saudi Arabia when he was filling in for a surgery-bound Carlos Sainz and scored 6 points on his debut. That stellar performance might just have been enough for the young British driver to get a promotion according to F1 pundit Andrew Benson.

All Formula 1 teams want as fast and consistent a driver as possible. That’s the basic requirement because all the other bells and whistles can be added over time if you’re naturally quick. That’s why Fernando Alonso is still on the grid, despite being 42. And that’s exactly the quality Oliver Bearman showed in Jeddah, which, as a reminder, is one of the fastest street circuits in the world.

Bearman was called in at the last minute to replace Sainz who was ruled out of the weekend due to appendicitis. He only had an hour of Free Practice to get used to the speed differential between F1 and F2 before qualifying. And Bearman made that adjustment seamlessly. He qualified 11th on Saturday, and then converted it to a solid P7 on race day, leaving everyone in and out of the F1 paddock mighty impressed.

So impressed in fact, that Haas Team Boss, Ayao Komatsu called him a “total package“ after just his first race, hinting at the possibility of signing him for 2025. As we head into the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Andrew Benson, BBC’s F1 correspondent, answered some of the questions from the community and one of them was about the teams choosing older more experienced drivers over younger talents.

“It’s simply not true to say that teams are not choosing young drivers,“ Benson responded in a Q&A report from BBC. “Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris and, as the questioner points out, Verstappen all came in young and were immediately quick. As, quite some time ago, was the case with Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. They’re just not picking any young drivers – they’re trying to pick the right ones. And only when they think they are a better option than the existing ones.”

He then described how Bearman might have earned himself a drive for 2025 just because he showed how good he was. He added, “Oliver Bearman, after his appearance as a substitute at Ferrari for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia, is likely to have an F1 seat next year, most probably at Haas. And Mercedes seem increasingly likely to promote their 17-year-old protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli when Hamilton leaves for Ferrari.”

Haas might take on Oliver Bearman in 2025, but there is a catch for Ferrari in that proposition.

Ferrari might have to offer discounts to Haas for giving a seat to Oliver Bearman

Oliver is in his second Formula 2 season this year after a strong debut season in ’23 where he scored four race wins. However, he showed everyone in Jeddah that he was ready for a full-time seat in Formula 1. And currently, the only team Ferrari can place Bearman with is Haas. Fortunately for the British driver, Haas is also interested in having him on their team.

Haas has been a customer team of Ferrari since joining F1 in 2016, maintaining a close relationship despite Ferrari’s power unit troubles in recent years. However, the cost of F1 power units is significant, ranging from $12-15 million. That is why F1 expert Joe Saward thinks that Haas could ask Ferrari to offer a discount on the engine deal for placing Oliver Bearman alongside Nico Hulkenberg in 2025.

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“The word is that Haas would be happy to take Bearman, probably alongside Hulkenberg, in 2025, if Ferrari asked them nicely–and offered a suitable discount on engines,” he wrote on his blog, Green Notebook.

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