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Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has praised Oliver Bearman and his journey to Formula 1. He stated that after Bearman scored points for Ferrari in Jeddah last year, he was bound to find a seat for the 2025 season.
Bearman was working with Ferrari last year as their junior driver when Carlos Sainz got down with appendicitis, forcing him out of the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. His absence led to Bearman's promotion, as the youngster stamped his authority by scoring points on his F1 debut. He finished P7 with Ferrari at Jeddah and strengthened his candidacy for a seat for the 2025 season.
Haas F1 team, meanwhile, managed to sign Bearman for the 2025 season alongside Esteban Ocon. Interestingly, his F1 promotion coincided with his F2 teammate Kimi Antonelli's advancement to Mercedes. He replaced Lewis Hamilton to grab the second seat for the 2025 season.
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Antonelli was nothing but proud of his former Prema teammate's journey to F1. Speaking to Pitdebrief, he said:
“I’m really happy he’s in F1. I mean, I think after what he did in Jeddah last year, it was pretty obvious he was going to be racing. And it’s something I expected, to be honest. Because he showed, on many occasions, what he’s capable of."
Before becoming rivals this year in F1, Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman were teammates for Prema in the 2024 F2 championship. They developed a strong friendship that remains unaffected despite the change of dynamics.
“Last year we were teammates, and we got along pretty well. Still this year, we managed to carry on this nice relationship," Antonelli added.
Antonelli and Bearman are two of the many rookies who debuted in F1 this year. However, these two have impressed the most by scoring points consistently for their respective teams.
Haas boss finds flaws in Oliver Bearman's driving style
![Ayao Komatsu [L] with Oliver Bearman [R] F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan - Source: Getty](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/04/b9bfa-17460136589152-1920.jpg)
Oliver Bearman is working with Haas F1 team principal Ayao Komatsu this year. However, the latter wasn't too pleased with the rookie's driving style. He referred to Fernando Alonso, with whom Komatsu worked at Renault, and drew a similarity in their capabilities.
Talking to The Race, Komatsu said:
“He has [a particular driving style], but he still can drive around it. This is a very strong part of him. But if he is not careful, that could be the problem as well, because sometimes he doesn’t even know that he’s driving around it. We just need to work with that. That’s not necessarily his fault. It’s actually amazing that he can drive around it, like Fernando Alonso."
However, Ayao Komatsu praised Oliver Bearman for keeping an open mind to accept feedback. At the end of the day, he is still a rookie with lots of learning to take from his debut season.
