“It is unimaginable that we‘d train him for Ferrari”: Oliver Bearman to Racing Bulls chances played down by Red Bull taskmaster

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko recently shot down prospects about Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman training with the Visa Cash App RB F1 team.

Oliver Bearman recently raised a lot of eyebrows in the paddock after his F1 debut at the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. He replaced an appendicitis-diagnosed Carlos Sainz and drove brilliantly for his first F1 race with Ferrari. He qualified in P11 and ended the race in P7. Hence, several rumors of him being promoted to F1 started emerging.

Austrian outlet OE24 asked Helmut Marko whether, by any chance, Bearman could join Red Bull's B team, Visa CashApp RB. The 80-year-old stated that though the Austrian team talked with him, he was already under the Ferrari umbrella. He straightaway denied the possibility of Red Bull training the young Briton for Ferrari.

"We actually had an informative conversation with him, but he was already at the Ferrari Academy. It is unimaginable that we would train him for Ferrari," Marko said.

Red Bull has always promoted young drivers from their junior programs and given them an opportunity to shine in F1. Drivers like Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Alex Albon, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, etc., were nurtured and trained under the Red Bull umbrella.

However, Oliver Bearman's case is different since he was already a part of Ferrari's junior program since 2021. He currently races for Prema Racing in the F2 Championship, alongside Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli.

---

Ferrari team boss shoots down rumors of Oliver Bearman becoming a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton

Since Oliver Bearman's performance at Jeddah was so captivating, some have already started discussing the youngster as a fitting replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking to the media after the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur exclaimed that Lewis Hamilton had not even joined yet. He clarified that Bearman's top priority was still his F2 Championship stint with Prema Racing.

“Don’t start to speak about after Lewis Hamilton, Lewis is still not in the team! But it’s a good signal for Ollie for sure, that was an important milestone. In Melbourne, he will be back on the F2 project, and the most important challenge for Ollie will be this one,” Vasseur said (via PlanetF1).

Lewis Hamilton is set to move to Ferrari in 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz.