The future of Haas: Who will drive alongside Ollie Bearman in 2025?
With the summer break of the 2024 season slowly making it’s way into the present, the next driver to save his place at the table has been confirmed for 2025. This time it’s 19 year old Ollie Bearman securing a spot at Haas Money-Gram F1 team. While this means there will be five opportunities to hear the British national anthem on the podium in 2025, it is a greater reminder that not everyone who has had a spot for the past two year will return for a third season in 2025. But who is it that won’t be returning? Who will become the rookies future teammate? Lets look at the options.
The goal of any team in Formula One is to improve upon the years previous, this applies more so to Haas than others. So, what are the team looking for in a driver to achieve this goal and why do or don’t the current drivers appeal to this? It seems that the teams next goal is to catch up with Visa Cash App RB in the standings before going into regulation changes in 2026, while also strengthening the gap between themselves and Alpine. It’s clear that as of 2024, Nico Hulkenberg is better suited to the point scoring role, usually out performing his teammate Kevin Magnussen, However, Hulkenberg was confirmed in April to be joining Sauber in 2025 ahead of its transformation into Audi. Magnussen more often than not find himself behind the Alpine drivers, currently sandwich between the two in the championship. As of Ollie Bearman’s confirmation, Kevin Magnussen has no confirmed place at the team alongside him next year. What does this mean for the Dane? Ex team principle Guenther Steiner swore to never hire rookies, however, with his departure it seems that the run of older drivers for the team may becoming to an end. Could Magnussen see retirement in replace of a second younger driver for the team?
Well, most likely, yes. According to Haas themselves, Esteban Ocon, soon to be former driver for Alpine, is the favourite to be given a seat alongside Bearman. While Ocon has the capabilities to hold his own in a midfield team like Haas, the public opinion seems to be against the idea of the French driver joining the team. Why? Well, it’s simple. Esteban Ocon struggles with the team mentality. Consitently Ocon has proved that he cares very little for the concept of teamwork, usually plowing into Gasly as he did in Monaco. It seems that, even with the appropriate skills, Ocon would not bring the right morale for Bearman or Haas to achieve their goals in 2025. Similarly, Zhou Guanyu of Sauber was also rumoured to be considered for the seat as well as teammate Valtteri Bottas. However, it seems that Zhou Guanyu’s chances at the team are becoming the least likely. This is not because of a lack of team mentality, but because he has not shown his ability, making him the least appealing. This is unlike his teammate Valtteri Bottas who has years of experience at Mercedes and Sauber under his belt, making him a prime candidate with skills developed right at the top.
There is one name that has not been mentioned yet in this, and for a reason. Carlos Sainz. Perhaps the most popular driver without a confirmed contract in 2025. So, why is he not mentioned as a potential option. This is not to say that Sainz hasn’t been in discussion with Haas, he has just as he has with every other team that will listen. However, just as it was unspoken truth that Bearman would have a seat in Haas for 2025, it seems to be unspoken truth that Sainz will have a seat at Williams for 2025, as a year long placeholder before Audi’s arrival in 2026. It seems that Haas want multi-year contracts, signing Bearman on one, which seems unlogical for Sainz to ask for with the arrival of the German manufactures in 2026.
Title image from Formula One.
