Steiner praises 'mature' F1 prospect

Haas F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner has praised Oliver Bearmanfor his mature approach to testing with the team during the 2023Formula 1 season. Bearman ran in two FP1 sessions for Haas duringthe 2023 season, and then took part in the Abu Dhabi post-seasontest. The British driver, who was a standout in last year's Formula2 campaign, also undertook some simulator duties with the team.When asked about how easily Bearman managed to get to grips with F1machinery, Steiner told media, including RacingNews365 : "He's 18,but even if he got into an F1 car in 2021 it's still early, youknow? He was very mature for an 18 year old. But not trying to bemature. "Sometimes young drivers, they have got this wisdom whichsomebody tried to teach them. But no, it was actually himself. "Hewas very chilled out about that as well what he was doing, so I hadfun with him." Haas' new reserve driver? Haas must currently find anew reserve driver for the 2024 season, after Pietro Fittipaldisigned to Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing in IndyCar. Questions havebeen raised over whether Bearman could take on the role, given hislinks to the Ferrari Driver Academy and mostly being on hand at themajority of races due to his F2 commitments. "I don't know whatthey [Ferrari] are doing. But I think you always need to have aplan if nobody's around," said Steiner. "Because if it hits you, ifyou put somebody in the car who doesn't know anything it's notgood."