Haas F1 team signs teenage British driver Oliver Bearman on multi-year deal from 2025

By The Associated Press

FILE - Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman of Britain is interviewed outside his team garage ahead of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, March 21, 2024. Haas announced the signing in a statement Thursday, July 4, without giving more details. The 19-year old British driver will take the seat vacated by German driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is joining Sauber at the end of the year ahead of its rebranding to Audi for 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake]

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (AP) — The Haas Formula 1 team has signed Oliver Bearman on a multiyear deal from 2025 onward. The 19-year old British driver will take the seat vacated by German driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is joining Sauber ahead of its rebranding to Audi for 2026. Bearman says “it’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me.” Bearman impressed with a stunning seventh-place finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March, when he stood in for Carlos Sainz Jr. He got the unexpected F1 debut after Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and needed an operation the same day.