The message from one of the paddock’s most senior voices is blunt: the Ferrari door Bearman has been queuing at for years is bolted shut.
Brundle told Sky Sports that the 21-year-old Haas driver, long treated as the Scuderia’s heir apparent, has to start thinking about a future that does not involve red overalls.
“Ollie Bearman might need a Plan B because obviously Lewis and Charles are nailed on at Ferrari for a little while,” Brundle said, in comments carried by RacingNews365.
“Ollie Bearman was the future star, the heir apparent within the Ferrari staircase, if you like. So I don’t know where he goes from here.”
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Ferrari’s door bolted through 2027
The mathematics behind Brundle’s warning are unforgiving. Hamilton is confirmed at Ferrari through 2027 and potentially beyond, while Leclerc’s extension runs deep into the end of the decade. That leaves no natural Scuderia vacancy for a Bearman promotion before 2028 at the earliest, and no guarantee even then.
Brundle also poured cold water on the idea that Ferrari’s junior programme is now built around Bearman alone.
“No, I don’t, to answer your question. I do believe they’re also looking at some other young drivers.”
Haas seat no longer a formality
Bearman’s short-term future is less exposed than Brundle’s tone suggests. He is on a 2+1 arrangement with Haas that gives the American team the option to keep him for 2027, and team principal Ayao Komatsu has said publicly that the squad plans to firm up its lineup between May and July of the decision year.
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Brundle was warm about the environment Bearman is racing in.
“Haas is a brilliantly credible team on the F1 grid, I wouldn’t want to underplay what they’re doing, and we’d miss them massively.”
The other Haas seat is a different story. Esteban Ocon has struggled for points and is not the team’s first choice to stay on, with speculation swirling around a possible Japanese signing tied to the Toyota partnership.
Red Bull circling as a genuine Plan B
If Bearman does look elsewhere, one destination keeps surfacing. Sky’s David Croft said Red Bull are “keeping very close tabs” on the young Briton as they build contingency plans around Max Verstappen’s contract clauses.
Croft also pointed out that Laurent Mekies, the man who signed Bearman to Ferrari’s academy in the first place, is now inside the Red Bull structure and well placed to assess him.
Bearman himself has repeatedly said he is in no rush, insisting he has been told nothing concrete about a 2027 Scuderia move. Haas will define its lineup during the summer window, and Ferrari is not expected to move on either of its race drivers before then.
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