Haas announce upcoming Ferrari superstar as Kevin Magnussen's replacement for the F1 Azerbaijan GP

The Haas F1 team has announced that F2 driver and Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman will replace Kevin Magnussen at the upcoming Azerbaijan GP next week. The Danish driver will serve his one-race ban after he accumulated 12 penalty points on his FIA driver's license, post the Italian GP last weekend.

Magnussen had amassed a plethora of penalty points over the season such as his disastrous Miami GP contributing five points in one race. He has also played a key role on several occasions in helping his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in scoring points by presenting a staunch defense against the rivals.

As per F1.com, Haas F1 team principal Ayao Komatsu said that he was 'excited' to see Ferrari Academy driver Ollie Bearman drive the VF-24 alongside the German in Baku. He said:

“I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku. He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process."

"This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for a better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”

Oliver Bearman gives his take on driving for Haas in Baku

Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman stated that it would be a challenge for him to step up in an F1 car with limited preparation and replace Kevin Magnussen for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Brit said:

“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience."

"I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan,” he added.

Oliver Bearman has already secured a full-time contract with the Haas F1 team for the 2025 season after he left everyone impressed while deputizing for Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari F1 team at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The young Brit finished the race in Jeddah in P7 ahead of the likes of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton and scored six points.

He remains P15 in the Driver's Championship, tied with Magnussen who is a place behind him, despite racing in just one race.