British racing starlet Oliver Bearman has been hailed as a "special" driver by his potential future boss.
But Haas chief Ayao Komatsu refused to be drawn on whether the 19-year-old is in pole position for a seat at his team next year. Bearman burst onto the scene in Saudi Arabia in March as he made a surprise debut for Ferrari, filling in for the unwell Carlos Sainz.
He is the hot favourite to land a seat with customer team Haas for 2025 and will take part in six practice sessions for the American outfit this year. The first of those appearances will come on Friday at Imola where, speaking to Mirror Sport , Komatsu sang Bearman's praises.
But the Japanese team boss warned: "He's not in pole position - he's still got lots to prove." Komatsu was happy, though, to explain just why the Chelmsford teenager is so highly-rated.
He said: "He's done very well so far. What makes him special is that, clearly, he's got speed, but it's his understanding of the context. As a young driver, it's not easy to have that perspective and the maturity to understand how he needs to approach the tasks he has to do.
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"The maturity is really great and, in terms of his physical ability, of course he's got it. He's fast, but also able to think calmly after a lap or two laps about what he's done. He's a pleasure to work with. It's about the overall package. You need to have the speed, to be have the adaptability, and you need to work and communicate with engineers, which sounds simple but some drivers really cannot work with engineers properly."
On top of his duties for Haas, Bearman also has a Formula 2 title to try to win this year. And when it comes to assessing the teenager, Komatsu is not giving more weight to one over the other. He said: "Those are two very different environments and he needs to be able to perform in both. We are looking at all aspects."
Bearman received plenty of attention in the Imola paddock yesterday and cracked jokes about how many journalists turned up at his print media session in the Haas motorhome. As nervous as he was about speaking to a crowd, the 19-year-old made it clear he has no doubt he belongs in F1.
He said: "I've never doubted my ability - since the start I always knew I was good enough to fight. "Whenever I jumped into a new category I was competitive straight away, so that’s never been in doubt for me. I have a lot of confidence in my ability."
But despite that bulletproof self-belief, and being the heavy favourite to replace the departing Nico Hulkenberg at Haas, Bearman admits there is no guarantee the spot will be his. He said: "I see it as my chance, but just because there is a seat free, doesn’t mean I’m entitled to it. I still have to perform well and show that I’m ready to jump into F1 next year."
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