Ollie Bearman to step in for banned Kevin Magnussen at Haas in Baku

Haas have announced Oliver Bearman will stand-in for Kevin Magnussen at next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the Dane serves a one-race ban.

Magnussen picked up a one-race suspension after accruing 12 penalty points on his licence for various incidents over the past 12 months.

It means he will sit out next weekend in Baku.

This has handed Bearman his second F1 outing of the year having deputised for Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Bearman will race for Haas full-time in 2025 alongside Esteban Ocon, so next weekend will provide him with useful experience and a true test of how competitive he could be next year.

Speaking of the news, Bearman said: “It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on, but I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience.

“I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku.

“The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”

Team boss Ayao Komatsu added: “I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku.

“He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process.

“This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”

Bearman starred on his F1 debut for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, finishing seventh.