Ollie Bearman reveals biggest lesson from rookie F1 season

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team

The strongest spell of his rookie season ran from Zandvoort onward. He fought from the pitlane to sixth, then managed to string together five consecutive points-scoring races. In Mexico, he placed his Haas in fourth – a joint-best result for a driver of the Ayao Komatsu-led squad.

2026 brings a massive change to the championship, with regulations that Bearman is still getting his head around.

“I still have a lot to learn. And for example, this is my first regulation change and some of my competitors have been through two or three or four of them. So this will also be a very new experience for me and that excites me because it’s a great opportunity to learn and, hopefully throughout my career, there’ll be lots of these changes.

“It means that I’ve been there for a while. So, it’s certainly still a great opportunity. I feel like everything I’ve learned last year, I can take that forward. And there’s a lot that I can, let’s say, add to my armoury of learning in terms of learnings from 2026 as well. That’s for sure.”

While it’s not his target this year, he said without hesitation: “My goal in life is to become a world champion. I’m building the foundations to hopefully one day be in a position to do that.”

After the first four rounds of the 2026 season, Bearman currently sits eighth in the drivers’ standings with 17 points, while his team-mate sits 16th with just one point. 

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