Oliver Bearman has already scored points for two teams, although the season opener in Melbourne will only be his fourth race – which begs the question
How many rookies are there in this year’s Formula 1 season? Opinions are divided on this question, because depending on how you look at it, the answer varies between three newcomers or five, which would make up a quarter of the field.
Background: Both Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Haas driver Oliver Bearman already have one and three races in Formula 1 under their belts respectively. With Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) and Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), on the other hand, the matter is clear: they have never sat in a car at a Grand Prix.
“I still see myself as a rookie,” says Bearman, who is the ‘longest-serving’ newcomer in terms of F1 starts. He is also the first to admit that he is no longer a rookie: ”I don’t think I’m officially a rookie, but I think that’s a bit harsh. There are certainly some rookies with more kilometers in F1 than me who are still officially rookies. So yes, I think it’s a bit harsh not to call me a rookie anymore, because I still feel like one.”
Bearman now a race driver: ‘I feel ready’
New Haas driver: “There are still tracks I haven’t been to and I haven’t done a full F1 season, which makes me a rookie in my eyes.” But trading his experiences for the more or less worthless rookie status is out of the question for him: “I’m very happy to have done these three races and many kilometers behind the scenes. That’s why I feel ready for my rookie season,” Bearman jokes.
The Briton does not see any major imponderables coming his way either – with one exception: “The only uncertainty is how the car will perform. I’m relatively sure that I’ll be going into the season opener with confidence in terms of what I can do and how comfortable I feel. For a rookie, I’ve already done quite a few kilometers in this phase of Formula 1, a lot of testing in old cars and also a lot of race weekends, which are of course very different.”
Bearman continues: ”Race weekends are unique and the pressure is different from when you’re just alone in the old car on the track. So to have that experience was really great and valuable,” he says, referring to his three previous outings as a substitute for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Saudi Arabia in 2024 and twice standing in for Kevin Magnussen at Haas in Baku and Brazil.
“This year, at least, I already know what my car will look like,” Bearman laughs at the extremely short-term jumping back and forth between the teams as part of Ferrari’s junior program. The 19-year-old is not exactly sure what expectations he will face at Haas, “but I’m always very hard on myself, so I’m sure my own expectations are good enough”.
Haas newcomer is happy: “I’m living my dream here”
In any case, it’s a bit of a thing with expectations: “It’s practically impossible to say before the cars have been on the track. So let’s wait and see where we are in Australia,” the Brit remains cautious. His main focus for 2025 is quite unaffected by this anyway: ‘My biggest goal is to learn as much as possible and improve from race to race.’
Besides, ”you need a lot of discipline and hard work. But also, and this is often overlooked, you need to have fun. I’m living my dream here and I’m very happy to be here,” Bearman finds sympathetic words: ‘You only get one rookie season, only one debut, so I really want to enjoy it.’ Even if that’s not really true in his case with the one rookie season…
