Ollie Bearman to race for Haas at Azerbaijan Grand Prix after driver’s ‘surprise’ ban

Bearman, who will join Haas full-time next season, will replace Kevin Magnussen while the Dane serves his ban

Ollie Bearman will stand in for Kevin Magnussen in Baku (PA Wire)

Ollie Bearman will replace Kevin Magnussen on the grid at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the Dane serves his one-race ban in Baku.

Magnussen was handed two penalty points and a 10-second penalty after being deemed “wholly to blame” following a collision between his Haas and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix.

The incident in Monza lifted the veteran Dane’s total penalty points to 12 in the last year, resulting in a suspension.

Bearman was the logical choice to step in as he prepares to join Haas full-time in 2025. The 19-year-old Briton has served as the reserve driver for the team and Ferrari this campaign, scoring points on debut having replaced Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March.

“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,” said Bearman.

“I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with Haas in the VF-24 [car] 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.”

Kevin Magnussen will serve a one-race suspension (Getty Images)

The 19-year-old Bearman, who hails from Chelmsford in Essex, will become the fourth full-time British driver on the grid in 2025 alongside Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris. He currently sits 14th in the Formula 2 standings.

Magnussen’s ban came after a contentious penalty at Monza, with Gasly himself admitting ”surprise” at the sanction.

“Me and Gasly had slight contact,” the Danish driver said. “No damage to either cars, no consequences in the race. We just had slight contact and missed the corner. And so what?

“We were racing. I don’t know why we need to be throwing around penalties like this.

“On top of that, I nearly saw Nico [Hulkenberg] thrown into the wall at 300kph (200mph) by [Daniel] Ricciardo. I’m not saying he did it on purpose but still he got five seconds and I got 10 seconds for this.

“They don’t want racing. That’s what it seems to me. If this thing between me and Gasly can’t be deemed a racing incident, I don’t know what can. It doesn’t make sense.”