Bearman insists his goal is still Ferrari but warns he cannot waste his best years waiting

Ollie Bearman's sophomore F1 campaign has seen some up-and-downs, with the British driver taking P5 in China before a difficult run of form that has seen both Haas drivers slip down the order.

Bearman was signed up to the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2022, and the Briton memorably made his F1 debut for the team at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as a substitute for an unwell Carlos Sainz, going on to score points with an impressive P7 finish.

The 21-year-old remains part of the Ferrari family, but with Charles Leclerc and the resurgent Lewis Hamilton in the team, he might have to wait a bit longer before he's called up by the Scuderia.

Since making his full-time debut last season, Bearman has been learning the ropes at Haas, ending his rookie campaign with a career-best fourth place in Mexico City.

He started 2026 strongly, scoring in the opening two rounds – including a Sprint point and a superb fifth-place finish in China having reached Q3.

Aside from another points finish in Canada, results have been harder to come by, though Bearman still sits ahead of team mate Esteban Ocon in the Drivers' Championship.

Speaking on the latest episode of Beyond the Grid, Bearman talked about changes from last season and his future with Ferrari, as the young Briton acknowledged that Hamilton's success with the famed Italian outfit could mean he has to wait slightly longer than anticipated.

“Things have changed a lot in the last six months," said Bearman. "As an F1 fan and a Lewis fan as well, it's pretty cool to see him performing at the level he is and seeing him on the top step in Barcelona was quite a special moment for British F1 in general.

"It was three Brits on the podium, with the best British driver, the best driver we've ever seen in P1. That's something pretty special. Of course, in terms of my future, that's not ideal, but I'm still young.

"I'm only 21. I'm not in a huge rush and, for me, staying at Haas for the foreseeable is not a bad thing. I feel like there's a lot to learn at this team. There's a lot to still achieve. I really want to get back to those highs which we tasted in Mexico and other events. I feel like they're on a good trajectory, this team, and I'm really happy to be on the journey with it.

"It's a tough moment right now and it's a really challenging one, and one that builds character, I would say, but 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. So, hopefully we can get a bit more performance and score some good points again.”

Asked about whether he'd consider a move away from the Ferrari family that has played a large role in his career so far, Bearman said: “I'm, of course, very much committed to what Ferrari have offered me and they've supported me since the very beginning, since I joined F3, and I'm only sitting here thanks to them. So, on one side, I owe a lot to Ferrari.

"For me, Ferrari is the dream team, not only because I'm part of Ferrari, but just because it's the most iconic brand, probably, in the world. So, my goal remains to be a Ferrari driver one day. That, at the moment, is the case and then we need to see how things develop.

"Of course, I don't want to be sitting around for three, four, five years waiting for a seat to become available because there's no guarantees, and then you can be wasting your best years.

"My ultimate goal is maybe a bit selfish, and that's okay because that's the reason I'm here, and that's because I want to be fighting for World Championships, so 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. That's not up to me. Of course, I want to be fighting for wins, for championships, and whatever team I believe that's possible with, I'm happy to take the step with them.”

To listen to this week’s episode of Beyond The Grid, simply hit go on the audio player above or tune via your preferred podcasting platform.

You can also check out a huge selection of previous episodes – spanning every decade of F1 – in our dedicated Beyond The Grid library.