Bearman thanks Haas' team principal: 'Influential in signing me'

Bearman looking forward to working with Komatsu

Before making his Grand Prix debut in F1 with Ferrari, Oliver Bearman has already driven in free practice sessions for Haas F1. During the off-season, it was announced that Ayao Komatsu will take over as team principal, as Haas let the long-standing Guenther Steiner go. The Briton was happy with the Japanese's promotion.

"I've always got along really well with him [Komatsu]. And when the news came that he was going to become the team principal, I was, of course, very happy because he works really hard and you can see that he's had a really positive impact on the team. So I'm really excited to start working more closely with him because just doing free practice sessions is not really that much. I’m really excited to get going and he has been really influential in getting me into this position" he told GPblog among other media.

According to Bearman, Komatsu really helped to push the team forward in 2024. "I'm really encouraged by the performances recently, it's been really good the last couple of races and just the trajectory that the team is on at the moment is really positive. I think, like I said, that Ayao has really brought some motivation to the team and when you get points and score well, the motivation is really adding up and it's all cumulative."

However, the exact plans for upcoming season is still yet to be known for Bearman. "There is nothing written down or said, honestly, like I said, we're still very early days, we're still in the summer break yet, so I think we'll get to those conversations when we know a bit how next year will shape up with the car and everything, that's a story for a few months' time."