Ex-Haas boss Guenther Steiner claims he would’ve taken the ‘risk’ of putting Oliver Bearman in an F1 seat for 2025

Guenther Steiner was sacked by Haas ahead of this year's campaign for lack of any progress during the 2023 F1 season.


Ex-Haas boss Guenther Steiner claims he would’ve taken the ‘risk’ of putting Oliver Bearman in an F1 seat for 2025

Guenther Steiner and Oliver Bearman (Via: Imago)

Since the past week, all the hype surrounding F1 has centered around Oliver Bearman and his super-sub performance at the Saudi Arabian GP. Following his outing, rumors came to light regarding his chances of securing an F1 seat for next year. While reflecting on the Brit’s performance, the ousted team boss, Guenther Steiner, boldly claimed that he would’ve put the rookie in a full-time seat for the 2025 season.

Oliver Bearman was given the task of replacing Carlos Sainz on short notice. Moreover, the latter was on pole for the F2 feature race and was already excited about his prospects in the junior category. Despite that, the teenager was able to quickly adapt to the Ferrari‘s SF-24 and showed promising results in the race.

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Guenther Steiner was very impressed with the exploits of Oliver Bearman.

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Based on his performance in Jeddah, after what I saw from him at Haas, I’d put him in a race seat. Obviously, it depends on the circumstances and what seats are available. You need to see the whole landscape, but he would be a candidate. Obviously, it is not 100% that he will succeed. It’s still a risk. But the way he handled himself in qualifying and the race in Jeddah, having just had one hour of practice, suggests the risk is so much smaller.
Guenther Steiner said in his column on F1.com

The Italian stated that due to Bearman’s impressive performance, he is certainly a candidate for an F1 seat. Steiner himself would have prospected the Englishman a possibility to race for Haas if he was still at the helm of the team. However, as it currently stands, Bearman will continue with his F2 campaign and would hope to get to F1 next season.

Guenther Steiner’s only remorse for staying at Haas

The 58-year-old led the American outfit since its formation in 2016. Subsequently, under his leadership, the team was able to grow and become a part of the midfield. However, the situation trundled quickly, and he was axed last year by the team, for lack of solid results.

Guenther Steiner (via Imago)
Guenther Steiner (via Imago)

Steiner while shedding light on life away from the stresses of F1 said,

Life has been good since I left Haas ahead of this season. These last few weeks are the first time I’ve switched off from F1 for around a decade. This time has been good for me. The longer time goes on, the more I can see that I stayed at Haas too long.
Guenther Steiner said in his column on F1.com

The Italian-American revealed how his life has been going since he left the American outfit. Steiner revealed that he has separated himself from all things F1 for the past month and has focused on his family. However, the only remorse that he still carries with him is that he stayed at Haas for too long.

Despite all this, Steiner has moved on from his previous role and is now engaged in various other things. Subsequently, the F1 community will still be entertained by the ex-team boss, just not in the same role.

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