Bearman's Mexico breakthrough caps off impressive F1 rookie year progress

"I was shitting myself going side by side with Max [Verstappen]," Oliver Bearman confessed in the Mexico Grand Prix post-script, mere minutes after clinching his best Formula 1 finish as he crossed the line fourth. That trepidation, to use a more watershed-friendly euphemism, was not evident on-track, as the gravity of the situation was confined to within his blue-and-chartreuse crash helmet.

Bearman, of course, was reliving his overtake on the four-time champion, one where he started his pounce on Max Verstappen at Turn 4. As the Dutchman had been put out of position in his battle with Lewis Hamilton, he was well aware of the presence of George Russell as the Mercedes driver looked to buy in on their scrap over third place and wrest fourth from Verstappen. As such, the Red Bull covered him off out of Turn 5, which opened the seas for Bearman to thrust his Haas down the inside.

The two broke out of the Turn 6 double-right side-by-side, Verstappen left, Bearman right, with barely a wafer between them. While Verstappen held the inside line for the next corner as they skipped towards the sweepers arm-in-arm, Bearman held one wheel on the white line and muscled past to shuffle up to fourth. Soon, when Hamilton was encumbered by a 10-second penalty for escaping that battle entirely by running along the grass into Turn 6, Bearman's position was upgraded into a potential podium position.

Haas has never managed an F1 podium finish before - and indeed, the wait goes on longer as Bearman's charge was eventually outflanked by Verstappen's contra-strategy. The Briton ended up taking a two-stopper to cover off the two Mercedes and Oscar Piastri behind him, a decision that led to him sacrificing third to Verstappen - but it was likely that he'd have been overtaken by the Red Bull anyway.

For Bearman to even get in contention, he needed to start well after qualifying 10th. One position came gratis when Carlos Sainz's five-place penalty from Austin took effect, then eased past Isack Hadjar in the first corner having been one of the few drivers in the top 10 to stay on-track. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was then picked off into Turn 4, the Italian being one of the first-turn grass botherers, while Bearman almost had a chance to dispatch Russell before being covered off through Turn 5.

After his Turn 4-7 move on the sixth lap, Bearman's subsequent defences were also well judged. Pressure from the likes of Verstappen, Russell, and Piastri throughout the race was heavy, but he had been able to soak it up admirably. Even without the virtual safety car at the end, Piastri wasn't sure he'd have been able to dispatch the Haas.

Bearman put the moves on Verstappen, then defended well from the four-time champion

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

Bearman's fourth matches the team's best-ever F1 result from its bumper harvest in 2018, when Romain Grosjean headed a 4-5 result at that year's Austrian Grand Prix. Combined with Esteban Ocon's run to ninth, Haas now sits just 10 points behind the sixth-placed Racing Bulls in the constructors' championship, and fully ensconced in the midfielders' battle for glory with Aston Martin and Sauber also in tow.

Haas' decision to keep a small crew of engineers back to keep developments ticking over deep in 2025, culminating in its Austin floor update, appears vindicated. It's almost a cliche to point to the American team's size versus the other F1 teams on the grid, and plaudits almost verge on the patronising, but the almost-400-strong workforce is genuinely making the most of what it has. One of team principal Ayao Komatsu's pitches to lead the team ahead of the 2024 season had pointed to efficiency, and his approach over the past two seasons has evidently borne fruit. Pound-for-pound, it's now one of the best-run teams on the grid.

The result also underlines the heady progress that Bearman has made this season. Although imbued with the experience of three runs in 2024 - one for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, two for Haas in Azerbaijan and Brazil - his 'proper' debut in Australia this year had been punctuated by a litany of errors. A crash and a tangle with the gravel trap in FP1 and FP3 respectively - having missed FP2 as a result of his earlier damage - put Bearman in a difficult situation for qualifying. It was unsurprising that he lined up last, particularly as Haas experienced signs of instability with its floor throughout the weekend and effectively propped up the field.

"I think he's just hitting all the points. He's been making improvement everywhere and he's very engaging, he's open to feedback, even the tough conversations" Ayao Komatsu

He at least finished that race, a tricky affair in changeable conditions that saw off many more experienced drivers, but it was an ignominious start nonetheless. And, after the first six races of the year, Bearman had the lowest batting average of any driver in qualifying; he started 20th three times, but showed a glimmer of pace with his emergence in Q3 in Japan. Yet, he later showed the value of what a newcomer could do if given time to learn and iron out the kinks in his driving.

Haas ensured that the pressure on Bearman was well-managed and, with his improvements reinforced by the team's own developments through the year, Bearman's trajectory was on the up. Regular Q1 exits turned into regular Q2 appearances and, in Mexico, he continued a string of Q3 results. 

Remember that Haas has been reticent to rely on rookie drivers, arguably burned by the signings of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin for 2021 - one had a penchant for treating cars like KitKats, the other just plain slow. Yet, the team has played a huge role in building up Bearman through his reserve role last year and now into 2025 and he's displayed a steady but sustainable progression. It's now at the point where he has a 12-8 head-to-head advantage over the vastly more experienced Esteban Ocon on Saturdays. Ocon, of course, is no slouch.

Critical Haas: Under Komatsu's leadership, Bearman's season has snowballed into a strong rookie campaign

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

With fourth in Mexico, Bearman has now moved ahead of his team-mate in the points. In recent weekends, it's been Ocon who has often fallen the wrong side of the qualifying cut-off lines, citing the occasional lack of confidence under braking with his VF-25 machine. He fared better in Mexico, only sitting 0.05s shy of Bearman in Q2 - but this was the difference in making it through and starting from outside the top 10.

For Bearman, it felt like a fitting result given Mexico played host to his first appearance in an F1 practice session two years ago. Part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Bearman was just finishing his first season of F2 with Prema when he got the call-up to drive the Haas. He finished 15th in that FP1 session, 0.35s away from Nico Hulkenberg in the other VF-23 car.

"He was 18 when we first ran him - I remember I just couldn't believe he was 18," Komatsu reflected. "When I was 18, I certainly couldn't behave like that, he had such a mature head on his shoulders. He understood what the team needed and his performance was very strong.

"He learned so quickly and to me, two years later, I think he's just hitting all the points. He's been making improvement everywhere and he's very engaging, he's open to feedback, even the tough conversations. He's a great team player as well, and in all aspects he's making tremendous progress every race."

There have been mistakes this season, indicated by the penalty points that currently mark his card. Two of those will drop off before the Brazilian Grand Prix, bringing him back into single figures, with six of the remaining eight points resulting from two red-flag situations at Monaco and Silverstone. Bearman's pit-entry shunt at the British Grand Prix weekend was perhaps a wake-up call that something had to change, and was arguably unlucky to pick up two more at this year's Monza round for contact with Sainz.

Yet, the positives of late have far outweighed the negatives. One could make the case that Bearman's rather special F1 debut at Jeddah in 2024 has been surpassed by his Mexico performance. His cover at Ferrari for Sainz is considered as a watershed moment for the current teams, as rookie drivers had not necessarily been trusted with the demands of the current generation of cars.

On that day, he finished seventh at the first time of asking - but I think there's a bit more lustre in winning a duel against the likes of Verstappen. Even those considered Verstappen's immediate rivals don't win them very often.

Haas is back in contention for sixth in the constructors' championship after a double-points finish

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images