Hamilton tips hat to Bearman’s surge as Haas rookie turns heads in F1’s tight midfield
Lewis Hamilton hasn’t had many easy weekends to smile about lately, but bring up Oliver Bearman and the Ferrari star lights up. After the Haas rookie’s punchy run of form — capped by fourth in Mexico and sixth at Interlagos — Hamilton called the 19-year-old “phenomenal” and said he’s eager to see where Bearman’s story goes next.
“I think it was amazing,” Hamilton said of Bearman’s Mexico drive. “I was so happy for him. Since his first race, the progress he’s been making… a really nice lad, great approach, very approachable, and I think he did a phenomenal job there. That car, I think they’ve been doing a great job over the course of the year. They’ve obviously developed well as well. But very excited to see his future.”
There’s a lot to be excited about. Bearman arrived in 2025 off the back of a handful of stand-in appearances for Ferrari and Haas and has hit the ground running in his first full season. He’s on a streak of four consecutive top-10 finishes, and his 40-point haul so far puts him 10 clear of team-mate Esteban Ocon — a statement for a driver who only just turned the rookie tag into a full-time seat.
Mexico was the breakthrough, a composed drive that flirted with a maiden podium until Max Verstappen’s one-stop heroics shut the door. Interlagos then underlined it: P6, tidy execution, zero drama. It’s the exact kind of consistency Haas have struggled to bottle in recent years, and it’s arrived right after a sizeable upgrade landed on the VF-25 at the United States Grand Prix.
“Gives us a tenth or two,” Bearman said of the package. “And that is enough in this midfield. I think it’s also the drivability of the car, which increased a hell of a lot. I’m really proud of the guys designing the car, bringing that upgrade, because it’s clearly bearing fruits. We’ve been on a run since Singapore, scoring points every race. There’s not exactly a type of track that suited us or not suited us. We’ve been strong in every single one, which is a really nice feeling.”
For anyone looking for weaknesses, Bearman isn’t biting. Even Baku — where he clipped the wall in Q2 and fought back to 12th — didn’t register as a sore spot.
“I wouldn’t even say Baku was a low point,” he said in Brazil. “I did a mistake in a quali where half of the grid crashed out. So if it was just me, it’s a low point. If it was half the grid, it’s one of those things, and you have to take it on the chin. It’s been a series of really, really strong races, and momentum is a powerful thing in this sport, so I’ll try and keep it up.”
This is where it gets interesting for Ferrari. The team has weathered a noisy few weeks — including a bruising double DNF in Brazil and pointed words from president John Elkann urging Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to keep their heads down and get on with the job. Hamilton’s own transition from Mercedes has been exactly as bumpy as you’d expect when you parachute into Maranello mid-era, and the scoreboard hasn’t yet been kind. Against that backdrop, Bearman’s trajectory is the kind of reassuring data point Ferrari like to bank for the future.
No one in Maranello will say it out loud, but when a 19-year-old Ferrari junior is outscoring his experienced team-mate and testing the upper limits of a Haas, people take notes. Whether that’s about 2026 or beyond is a separate conversation. For now, Bearman’s job is exactly what he’s doing: stack points, stack experience, and keep his name humming in all the right corridors.
Next up is Las Vegas, where the rookie is wary of a drag race he suspects won’t flatter the Haas.
“Vegas, I think will be a bit of a challenge, because I don’t expect to be very fast in the straights,” he admitted. “But apart from that, I’m really excited for the rest of the year. I think these last four races have shown that we have every right to be looking forward to the last three.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, has made it clear he’s watching — and approving. In a season short on freebies, genuine praise from a seven-time champion isn’t given lightly. Bearman’s earning it the hard way, lap after lap, against a midfield pack that hasn’t left more than a breath of space between heroes and also-rans all year.
He looks comfortable in that fight. And that, more than the headlines, is what tends to make careers.
