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F1 driver Max Verstappen on Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto

Verstappen hopes more youngsters can show their talent in F1: 'Natural'

27 September at 21:00

After there were no changes to the driver line-ups ahead of the 2024 season, many rookies have been already announced to begin their F1 journeys in 2025. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan and Oliver Bearman have been announced full-time drivers for next year, while Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant after the Dutch GP. Three-time world champion Max Verstappen rated Bearman's and Colapinto's performances, the two who have already competed in a Grand Prix this year.

Verstappen impressed by next generation

For now, three rookies have been announced for the upcoming Formula One season. Jack Doohan gets a promotion within Alpine, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was selected to replace Lewis Hamilton, and Oliver Bearman got a full-time opportunity at Haas F1.

Bearman was already a substitute and scored both times in 2024, while Colapinto replaced Sargeant and since then earned points as well. "It's always a difficult one. Sometimes you want to go for experience or when a team had a bad experience in the past… But yeah, I'm impressed. They're doing a good job when they jump in. You can see they're well prepared. And yeah, they're just doing a great job. So it's nice to see that from rookies. And hopefully that just opens it up a bit more for future talent to come into the sport," Verstappen answered.

The three-time world champion himself was only 17 himself when he made his debut in the competition, and hopes young drivers can continue to make their way up the ladder. "Naturally, I think, of course, you need your experienced drivers and stuff, but also opportunities for rookies. And, yeah, it looks like now, finally, that is, again, you know, happening a little bit. So that's great," the Dutchman concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Jeroen Immink


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