Oliver Bearman says he has no fixed timeline for reaching Ferrari, even as Lewis Hamilton made clear at the Canadian Grand Prix that retirement is nowhere near his thinking — a statement that effectively closes one potential door for the young Briton in the short term.
Hamilton, who joined Ferrari for the 2025 season, told media in Montreal that he had noticed attempts to push him toward the exit. “I still love what I do with all my heart, and I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it,” Hamilton said. He then backed up those words by finishing second in Canada after a closely fought battle with Max Verstappen — his best result yet in Ferrari red.
The declaration matters for Bearman because the 20-year-old is widely viewed as the logical next Ferrari driver when a seat eventually becomes available. He is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and is currently racing with Haas, scoring 18 points in the first five rounds of the 2026 season to sit ninth in the Drivers’ Championship. By any measure, his second campaign in Formula 1 has picked up where a strong 2025 rookie year left off.
Bearman: ‘I’m ready whenever anything happens’
When asked about Hamilton’s comments and what they mean for his own ambitions, Bearman was relaxed. “There’s no dates that I need to be doing X, I don’t really care about that,” he said. “I want to continue to become the best version of myself, give this team the best chance to fight and continue to enjoy it.”
He was equally clear-eyed about the bigger picture. Ferrari remains his “ultimate target,” but he stressed he has “no timeline” for getting there. “For me it’s not my job, I drive the car, there’s people taking care of that for me,” he added. The most pointed line of all: he believes he is “ready whenever anything happens.”
David Coulthard, the 13-time grand prix winner, has publicly warned Ferrari against letting the moment pass. The concern is a real one — Ferrari’s driver market could shift quickly depending on results and contract cycles. But Bearman, for now, is content to let his driving make the argument.
The 2027 market is already casting a shadow
The broader context is a driver market that could move sharply at the end of 2026. Nicolas Todt, Charles Leclerc’s manager, previously flagged that his driver needed a genuinely competitive Ferrari in the new-regulations era. Leclerc has scored a pair of third-place finishes so far this season — in Melbourne and Japan — and sits third in the championship, three points ahead of Hamilton in fourth.
Todt has also hinted at a “very hot” 2027 driver market, a phrase that has circulated widely in paddock conversations. Bearman himself acknowledged the dynamic: “I think the end of this year is important because a lot of people are having their contracts ending, so I think everyone wanted to see how the pecking order was in 2026 and that will then determine what 2027 looks like.”
With Ralf Schumacher among those who had called on Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to step back from the sport, Hamilton’s Montreal response — followed by a podium finish — was a deliberate and emphatic rebuttal. For Bearman, that simply means the work continues at Haas, where consistent performances are building a case that no contract negotiation can ignore.
The next opportunity to add to that case comes at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, where strong 2026-specification machinery should give both Haas drivers a cleaner read on their championship potential heading into the European stretch of the calendar.