It appears imminent that Haas will officially announce that Oliver Bearman, a British teenager, will join the small American team starting in 2025.
According to Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, with close sources connected to Haas' engine supplier and strategic partner Ferrari, the announcement is likely to happen during the British GP weekend, potentially as early as Thursday, July 4.
While it remains unclear if Haas will replace Kevin Magnussen in the second seat, it's evident that Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas have been in deep discussions with the team recently.
Ocon seems poised to secure a spot with Haas, as James Vowles, the boss of Williams, appears to favor Bottas for his superior teamwork abilities.
Indeed, the rivalry between Alpine's current duo continued in Austria as Pierre Gasly criticized his French compatriot Ocon following another contentious race. "I only control what happens in my car," Gasly stated. "I can't control what that guy does with his car. That's the way it is."
In Austria, Ocon expressed optimism about his future, stating he was "quite confident" he would be racing in 2025. He recalled, however, a challenging situation in 2018, saying, "I had a bad experience when I had two offers on my desk, but in the end I was left on the bench. So in Formula 1, you can't be sure of anything until it happens."
The ongoing driver speculation intensified following the Austrian GP, amid rumors of discord between Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann, the F1 project leader at new team owner Audi.
This tension might be why the Sauber-Audi partnership struggled to secure Carlos Sainz for the 2025 season, which precedes the official beginning of Audi's factory involvement from 2026 onwards.
Rumors also suggest that Ocon preferred Haas over Audi, while the Swiss-German partnership also seems unlikely to secure Liam Lawson, as Red Bull plans to place him in their junior team.
"We wanted to help Daniel (Ricciardo) find his old form so he could come back to Red Bull Racing," Dr. Helmut Marko told Viaplay, "but that clearly didn't work out. So we need to talk about it."
Meanwhile, Adrian Newey has ended a recent break and silence by announcing that he will make a decision about his post-Red Bull career by the upcoming autumn or winter. "That's certainly a target," he mentioned to Sky F1, also sharing that he and his wife Amanda recently enjoyed a holiday road trip in an "Aston Martin DB6."
Amanda Newey playfully noted on X, "We vacationed at Limewood, owned by Jim Radcliffe, arriving in an Aston Martin styled in a Ferrari blue-silver, wearing papaya shorts, for our holiday with Red Bulls to keep us alert."
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