'Don't speak about after Lewis Hamilton!' - Ferrari Oliver Bearman ...

Fred Vasseur has shut down talk of Oliver Bearman being lined up as Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari replacement, after all, Hamilton hasn’t even contested his first race in red.

Hamilton will join Ferrari next season having signed a multi-year deal with the Scuderia, but already some of the attention has shifted to the 39-year-old’s potential replacement when he retires.

Ferrari junior Bearman made a surprise Formula 1 debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when the 18-year-old replaced Carlos Sainz, who underwent surgery for appendicitis.

Bearman qualified the SF-24 in 11th place, missing out on a Q3 spot by 0.036s, before racing his way to seventh place in the Grand Prix.

Applauded for his successful debut, Bearman is expected to find a place on the 2025 F1 grid, most likely with the Ferrari-powered Haas team.

And after that, it has been suggested, he could replace Hamilton at Ferrari when the seven-time World Champion retires.

Vasseur, though, has shut down that talk.

“Don’t start to speak about after Lewis Hamilton, Lewis is still not in the team!” he said after the Saudi Arabian GP.

“But it’s a good signal for Ollie for sure, that was an important milestone. In Melbourne he will be back on the F2 project, and the most important challenge for Ollie will be this one.

“He will start soon the FP1 sessions with Haas, and this will be important also for us to give him experience and mileage in the car. But for sure with this one [Jeddah] he has the result in the pocket already.”

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Vasseur was impressed with Bearman’s debut as he had just one practice hour before qualifying.

“The fact that he did a short weekend without FP1 and FP2 and without any mistakes, for me it’s unrealistic,” he said.

“Honestly, I was completely impressed by this in Jeddah, between the walls, skipping FP1/FP2, directly almost in qualy.

“You have to consider Jeddah is a step, not the final target. He did well this weekend, but he will have other challenges in front of him in the future with F2.”

Last season Bearman did two FP1 sessions with Haas while this year there are six lined up as well as outings with Ferrari.

“He will do a couple of FP1s with us and Haas during the season and all of you, including me, in six months’ time we won’t speak any more about Jeddah, we’ll speak about Mexico, Brazil, and if he’s doing well or not, and every single day will be a new challenge,” added the Frenchman.

“But for sure, if he’s keeping the same approach as today, it will go well.”

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