Kevin Magnussen should stay to finish the 2024 season despite the rumors surrounding Ollie Bearman
Ayao Komatsu, the boss of the American team, revealed that he had considered the possibility of not bringing back Kevin Magnussen after his suspension and giving his seat to Ollie Bearman for the rest of the season. However, the Japanese still gives priority to the Dane this season.
Who will drive the second Haas in Singapore? This weekend, Nico Hülkenberg is accompanied by Ollie Bearman, a Formula 2 driver at Prema and future driver for the team in 2025, due to a race suspension imposed by the FIA on Kevin Magnussen. The latter exceeded the allowed penalty points limit on his SuperLicense (which is 12 points) after a new incident during the Italian Grand Prix. To replace him, the American team logically turned to one of the members of the Ferrari Academy, Oliver Bearman, who is therefore competing in his second Formula 1 race after replacing Carlos Sainz in the Italian team in Jeddah at the beginning of the year.
Bearman, replacing Magnussen for the rest of the season?
However, upon arriving this week at the Baku circuit, Ayao Komatsu, the team boss, opened the door to renewing the presence of the young British driver for the rest of the season. This hypothesis, which had lost some of its importance since the announcement of the driver change at Haas for this weekend, resurfaced. “If I said I hadn’t thought about it at all, I’d be lying,” revealed the former engineer of Romain Grosjean, aware that this choice could offer advantages to the team. Indeed, Bearman will be in the car next year, and putting him in the single-seater this season would allow him to familiarize himself with the team environment and gain even more experience. However, the Japanese driver wanted to put an end to these speculations, explaining that Magnussen proved during the last Grand Prix that he can still bring a lot to the team.
You saw at Monza how Kevin can drive. That is Kevin’s strength. He can really drive well. Sometimes, he can be too aggressive, like in Miami, but he can also drive like he did in Monza. Last year in Austin, when he followed a one-stop strategy? When everything is going well, he can offer incredible races, and this race in Monza was really solid. Honestly, this incident with Gasly was minor in my opinion, declared Komatsu, impressed by the pace that the Dane was able to maintain throughout the race in Monza, especially during his final stint, when he received a 10-second penalty for his incident with Pierre Gasly.
« So, when he was told to open up a 10-second gap with Albon, knowing that in qualifying we were neck and neck with him, honestly, I never believed he could open up such a big gap. Maybe three or four seconds at best. But then, seeing him open up a nine-second gap, without making any mistakes, being at the limit, with an incredible performance, that’s what Kevin can do.
Despite this penalty, the Dane managed to secure a point for Haas, a result that satisfied the team to the point that they are considering putting him back in the car as soon as next weekend in Singapore. Therefore, there was no real consideration of replacing Kevin with Ollie for the rest of the season, concluded the new boss of Haas, who supports his regular driver. The Briton will nonetheless have the opportunity to return to Formula 1 as he still has to take part in several free practice sessions for Haas and Ferrari.
