Herbert: Bearman will be best youngster, Antonelli very, very interesting

The Ferrari-backed 19-year-old Bearman will begin his first full F1 season with Haas F1 Team at the Australian Grand Prix in March, adding to the race experience he gained last year which piqued Herbert's interest in the driver.

Bearman made his F1 debut in Saudi Arabia as a late replacement for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, impressing with a seventh-place finish. He later stepped in for Haas at the Azerbaijan and São Paulo Grands Prix.

Former F1 driver and pundit Johnny Herbert believes Bearman will be the standout rookie in 2025, while fellow newcomer Kimi Antonelli faces the significant challenge of replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

Discussing the Class of 2025, Herbert said: “I like Gabriel Bortoleto because I like what he did in F2,” Herbert said. I like his grit and determination to get himself into that position that he got himself into when he won the championship.

"Now obviously getting himself into racing up against Nico Hülkenberg, which is a good opportunity for him to actually go up against Hülkenberg—as we saw with Oliver Bearman, he pushed him sometimes. Bearman was quicker than Hülkenberg.”

Herbert also weighed in on Antonelli, Mercedes’ highly rated junior driver, who is set to partner George Russell in 2025: “The driver that’s going to be very, very interesting to see what he can do is Kimi Antonelli

"Because his first showing wasn’t great in Monza. Now he’s got a reputation to repair and get people supporting him because that wasn’t the perfect scenario for him. He’s also up against George Russell, and he’s a very confident, smart young man that I think is going to be very tough to break.”

Herbert believes Bearman will emerge as the best of the young drivers in 2025 but also highlighted another name to watch: “I think Bearman is one to look out for too. For me, he will be the one who’s probably going to get the best out of the young bunch. And then Isack Hadjar—I did like what he did in F2 as well.”

The former F1 driver noted that the sport is seeing a fresh wave of young talent coming through, following in the footsteps of Lando Norris, Russell, and Alex Albon: “There’s a lot of good young talent that is now coming through after we saw Norris, Russell, and Albon come through."

"Now we’ve got the next bunch that are coming through, and the elder statesmen—Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton—are definitely on their last hurrah. We’ve seen it with Alonso only a couple of years ago—he’s still got it, and his racecraft is still brilliant. It’s good for those young drivers to see that and maybe learn a few tricks," added Herbert.

As teammate to Esteban Ocon, in an all-new driver line-up for Haas F1 Team this season, Bearman will get his first opportunity to prove Herbert right and Antonelli's chance to prove him wrong, when the 2025 season kicks off in Melbourne next month.