Bearman to step in for Banned Magnussen at Azerbaijan GP

Haas F1 have confirmed their incoming driver, Oliver Bearman will replace Kevin Magnussen for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the Dane serves his one-race ban.

Feature image credit: Haas F1

In the wake of the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Magnussen would have to serve a race ban after the Dane hit the maximum amount of penalty points allowed, on his superlicence. 

This came as the Danish driver collided with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at turn four, during the Italian Grand Prix, which added two penalty points to his superlicence, totalling up to 12 penalty points. 

As such, the team were required to find his replacement whilst the #20 Haas car served his race ban. The team have now confirmed, on Friday, that they will bring Bearman in as his replacement at the Azerbaijan race, in Baku. 

Having already competed in a Formula 1 weekend, when he was parachuted in to replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, the Briton claims he will be able to use his previous experience to his advantage. He 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.”

As a result of taking up Magnussen’s race seat, as the team’s reserve driver – his role for both Ferrari and Haas has been put to good use this season, it means the British driver will be forced to miss the Formula 2 sessions in favour of F1. 

Although he already completed four FP1 sessions this season, Bearman will be able to familiarise himself further with the team’s processes and equipment as he prepares to join the team in 2025, alongside Esteban Ocon. 

Magnussen will be able to rejoin the team in the following race, in Singapore, with a clean licence heading into his – potentially – last seven races as an F1 driver. 

“I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku,” commented Haas F1 Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu.

“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.”

Read more Formula 1 here:

• The wait continues on Adrian Newey future with announcement expected
• McLaren drivers describe Italian GP ‘painful’ and ‘frustrating’ after losing to Leclerc
• Kevin Magnussen banned from F1 Azerbaijan GP after hitting max penalty points
• Leclerc storms to Italian GP win with ambitious one-stop strategy
• F1 Italian GP: what are the potential tyre strategies?
• Norris takes Italian GP pole as Verstappen qualifies seventh
• Hamilton fastest in Italian GP final practice in unaffected session

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.