Haas begins the 2025 F1 season with an all-new driver line-up as Ferrari protege Oliver Bearman joins forces with Alpine exile Esteban Ocon.
The 2 exchange Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, who’ve left F1 and joined Stake, respectively, though Magnussen is ready to be retained in an advisory function by the crew.
Extremely-rated Ferrari junior Bearman has truly already made his F1 debut, racing 3 times in 2024 for an in poor health Carlos Sainz for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, after which a banned and in poor health Magnussen in Azerbaijan and Sao Paulo, respectively.
Ocon joins Haas as a longtime midfield runner, who can boast a grand prix win to his title, having claimed his maiden win on the 2021 Hungarian GP.
Following a break-down of relations with Alpine, Ocon opted for pastures new, with boss Ayao Komatsu eager to land the skilled French driver.
As a part of a sequence, RacingNews365 requested readers which driver they believed would come out on prime from every of the ten partnerships on the grid in 2025.
Because the outcomes present under, the Bearman vs Ocon line-up at Haas noticed an nearly even break up in votes from F1 followers, with Ocon nudging Bearman by simply 0.76% or simply 4 votes!
Evaluation
Ocon, because the extra skilled driver with 156 begins, one win and 4 podiums, will count on to begin at Haas because the crew chief, and be anticipated to be instantly on the tempo, and scoring factors if the brand new machine is able to doing so.
He’s a identified amount, and this presents Bearman with a scenario that Mick Schumacher confronted throughout his 2022 season alongside Magnussen.
Ocon is a superbly succesful grand prix driver, who will harvest an honest haul of factors, and on his day, is able to an impressive outcome – reminiscent of his second place within the torrid circumstances of the 2024 Sao Paulo GP.
However he isn’t an absolute top-liner within the mould of a Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen.
And that represents a golden probability for Bearman.
Given Ocon’s identified amount standing, if Bearman can are available in and comprehensively out-perform Ocon, that places him in a powerful place to possibly succeed Hamilton in a few seasons at Ferrari as soon as he lastly retires.
If he can not, then would Ferrari actually place a driver who couldn’t beat a decent midfield runner in its automobile and count on him to problem within the white-hot surroundings that’s the battle for F1 wins and championships?
It was a destiny which befell Schumacher.
Paired with Magnussen after Nikita Mazepin was sacked, the German did not match the Dane, and was finally changed after the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by Hulkenberg.
He’s but to return to a full-time F1 seat.
Bearman is the following cab off the Ferrari rank, and has proven he’s able to thriving beneath stress, reminiscent of when he was thrown in on Friday morning earlier than FP3 in Saudi Arabia, happening to qualify eleventh and end seventh on debut.
Ocon can also be identified to have a feisty relationship with team-mates, and won’t need to be proven up.
It creates an enchanting driver pairing.
Verdict: Oliver Bearman – simply.
