“I hope we can continue that trajectory, but it’s tough to say, you know, we haven’t driven the car yet, and we don’t know where we stand compared to the other teams in terms of progress compared to last year.
“So I think my goals are really just looking at myself, looking within, I want to be proud of my performances, see a continuous growth and development though the year and that’s really what I’m focusing on.”
Reflecting back on his F1 appearances in 2024, Bearman admits that his races for Haas – which came after he had signed to squad for 2025 – were helpful in preparing for the year ahead.
“I had a taste of it last year, three races, which left me wanting more. And this year I get 24 shots, so I’m really looking forward to it,” the Briton said. “The first race with Ferrari, I was more nervous than anything. The most difficult day of my life to be thrown into an F1 car, particularly a red one.
“But to then get another two shots and actually be able to prepare for it, knowing that that would be the car I’m racing next year, which is this year now, was really nice and I was able to take it all in and learn a lot.
“It actually turned out that in every race I’ve done I’ve been fighting on track with Lewis [Hamilton] so that was really just a dream come true, to race against someone so famous and so talented as well, the best F1 driver we’ve ever had.”
