Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Oliver Bearman To Replace Suspended Kevin Magnussen In Baku

Oliver Bearman will replace the suspended Kevin Magnussen for Haas at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix following his incident at Monza last weekend. (More Motorsport News)

Magnussen, who finished 10th at the Italian Grand Prix, was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points after a clash with Alpine's Pierre Gasly. 

The Dane was subsequently banned for one race after reaching the maximum 12 penalty points on his Super Licence within the space of a year. 

Magnussen is the first driver since Romain Grosjean back in 2012 to recieve a ban after the Frenchman caused a multi-car incident at the Belgian Grand Prix. 

With Bearman part of Haas' all-new driver line-up next year alongside Esteban Ocon, it provides an opportunity to familiarise himself with the car he will be driving in 2025.

The 19-year-old made his Formula 1 debut earlier this year when he stood-in for the unwell Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

Bearman finished in seventh place, scoring points on his first start for Ferrari and is looking forward to the challenge of Baku's street circuit next week. 

“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on," Bearman said.

"But I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience.

"I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with the Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 this season, so undoubtedly, that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend.

"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.”

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu added: “I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku.

"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.”