Haas boss Ayao Komatsu admits Oliver Bearman’s Formula 1 future is ultimately out of the team’s hands amid growing speculation linking the Briton with both Red Bull and Ferrari.
Bearman has emerged as one of the names tipped to replace Max Verstappen should the Dutchman leave Red Bull, while others believe Ferrari would first recall its own junior if Lewis Hamilton were to depart.
Komatsu admits Haas can only hope to convince Ferrari to leave Bearman where he is.
“We’re obviously focused on what we can do about Ollie’s contract,” he said.
“But his contract is tied to Ferrari. If we do a good job and Ollie excels, we’ll obviously want to keep him on the team, but that’s not up to us.
“So we’re only focusing on what we can control.”
The American team is also being linked with several drivers for 2027, with Esteban Ocon’s future increasingly the subject of speculation and Ferrari junior Rafael Camara among those mentioned.
Komatsu insists no decisions have been made.
“Obviously, we’re completely focused on getting the most out of our current two drivers,” he said. “We back Esteban 100 percent.
“That’s all we’re thinking about at the moment.”
He also dismissed suggestions Ferrari is pushing Haas to promote Camara.
“Let’s be clear: yes, Rafa is doing well, but Ferrari isn’t putting pressure on us to take him or anything like that.
“We’re choosing drivers based on their performance. Whoever delivers the best performance will be our driver.”
