Losing Oliver Bearman to Ferrari not something Ayao Komatsu or Haas can control

Bearman made his F1 debut in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with Ferrari, replacing Carlos Sainz, who had to undergo surgery for appendicitis. He then replaced Haas' Kevin Magnussen in Baku as the Dane served a one-race ban. In Sao Paulo, Bearman also was in Magnussen's car, who was too ill to drive.

Bearman scored points in Saudi Arabia and Baku and went on to impress even more when he became a full-time driver for Haas in 2025, beating his more experienced teammate, Esteban Ocon, and scoring points on nine occasions, his best finish being fourth in Mexico City.

In 2026, Bearman picked up from where he left off and scored points in the first two races while crashing in the Japanese Grand Prix after a freak accident as he was attempting to pass the harvesting Alpine of Franco Colapinto and got caught out by the huge speed delta.

Nevertheless, the Briton's reputation in F1 seems to be on the rise, with a call from Maranello just a matter of time.

Komatsu, whose team has close ties with Ferrari, who give them their power unit and some car parts, was asked whether he worries about the day Bearman gets called by the Italian team.

“It's no point worrying about it," he said. "I'm a strong believer in controlling what you can control. Ferrari has been investing in him for many, many years.

“So, we’ve got him for last year and this year, so we’ve got to focus on what we can control. If we've done a great job with Ollie, and Ollie performed so well that Ferrari really wants to take him the following year, we have to be happy that we've done our job.

“[In the future] that'll be just a discussion between us and Ferrari. We all are just focused on getting the best performance out of the car and out of Ollie.

"If that meant we lost him for next year, hopefully not. But that's not something we can control," Komatsu concluded. (Source: Beyond The Grid)