Bearman open to leaving Ferrari for title chance

Oliver Bearman insists Ferrari remains the dream — but at 21, he's not willing to wait half a decade for it. With Lewis Hamilton's revival clouding his path and Haas fighting to keep him, Bearman has made clear he'll chase race wins and titles wherever he can find them.

Would Bearman leave Ferrari's junior program for a faster route to the title?

Oliver Bearman has left the door open to leaving Ferrari's driver program if another team can offer him a faster route towards race wins and world championships.

Haas is believed to be determined to retain the 21-year-old, who has impressed despite the team's difficult season, amid speculation that Esteban Ocon could be replaced by F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli or Ferrari junior Rafael Camara.

However, Bearman has also been linked with Aston Martin because Fernando Alonso has not yet decided how long he will continue in Formula 1.

Briatore: Alonso "will be an Aston Martin driver" through the season

Flavio Briatore, who remains involved in Alonso's management, says no decision has been made beyond the current season.

"Fernando is racing for Aston Martin," he said in Hungary.

"It seems that Aston Martin has taken a nice step forward compared to before, and he is quite happy at Aston Martin."

"There is nothing to say about that yet. He is an Aston Martin driver and will be an Aston Martin driver at the end of the season."

Why Hamilton's Ferrari revival changes Bearman's calculus

Bearman admitted Lewis Hamilton's return to form in 2026 has made his own path to Ferrari less straightforward.

"Of course, in terms of my future, that's not ideal," he told Formula 1's Beyond The Grid podcast.

"But I'm still young. I'm only 21. I'm not in a huge rush."

"For me, staying at Haas for the foreseeable is not a bad thing."

Bearman wants Haas to find more pace

However, the Briton made clear that Haas must give him a more competitive car.

"I really want to get back to those highs which we tasted in Mexico and other events," said Bearman.

"I don't want to be defined as the team who had a really good first year with me, but then we really struggled to achieve that performance again. Hopefully we can get a bit more performance and score some good points again."

"I want to be fighting for world championships"

Bearman said becoming a Ferrari driver remains his preferred goal, but not at any cost.

"Ferrari is the dream team. My goal remains to be a Ferrari driver one day," he said.

"But I don't want to be sitting around for three, four, five years waiting for a seat to become available, because there are no guarantees. You can be wasting your best years."

"My ultimate goal is maybe a bit selfish, and that's ok because that's the reason I'm here. I want to be fighting for world championships."

"If I can have that opportunity wherever, I will take it. If that means it's not with Ferrari because they can't offer me that position, then that's life."

When asked specifically about Aston Martin, Bearman said: "I'm sure that one day they will be incredibly strong."

"But I wouldn't say I'm looking towards them at this stage."

Related: Ocon downplays Haas seat rumours at Spa milestone

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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