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Haas faces uncertainty over Bearman for Baku GP

Haas faces uncertainty over Bearman for Baku GP
© Reuters
Ferrari has not yet decided whether it will allow its reserve driver to participate in another single Formula 1 race next weekend.

Ferrari has not yet decided whether it will allow its reserve driver to participate in another single Formula 1 race next weekend.

Kevin Magnussen's incident with Pierre Gasly at Monza resulted in the Haas driver exceeding the 12-point penalty limit on his super license, leading to an automatic one-race suspension for Baku.

Ferrari-powered Haas' team principal Ayao Komatsu has confirmed there will be no appeal.

"We accept the punishment," he stated.

While Magnussen will not continue with the American team beyond the 2024 season, Komatsu emphasized that there is no dissatisfaction with the 31-year-old's performance.

"Kevin's drive when he realised he had to open a ten second gap to (Alex) Albon was fantastic," Komatsu said. "Just fantastic."

"As a team, we actually made an error with our strategy. We should never have put Kev in that situation behind Gasly. There was no reason not to pit one lap earlier."

"Suddenly, he was close to Gasly and tried to overtake - then the collision and ten-second penalty. Totally unnecessary on our side, right?" Komatsu added.

"Kev fights hard, he fights aggressively, and in some cases where there were penalties he was maybe a little too aggressive. But this time he tried to fight hard and just locked a wheel and pushed Gasly off the track. So he got a penalty and I accept it."

It seems logical that Haas would choose Oliver Bearman, their confirmed full-time rookie for 2025, to replace Magnussen in the Azerbaijan GP.

The challenge, however, is that Bearman, 19, would have to forgo a round of the Formula 2 championship, though he is not in contention for the title.

A more significant concern is that Ferrari would be without its full-time reserve driver.

When questioned about the possibility of releasing Bearman to Haas for the Baku race, Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur responded on Sunday: "Let me focus on Ferrari tonight, as we have just won a race. I'll just have to think about it," he continued. "I didn't even know Kevin was out (for Azerbaijan)."

Meanwhile, Magnussen has hinted at a potential shift to another racing series, such as WEC or IndyCar, next year if his Formula 1 career cannot be sustained.

However, the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet reports that Haas owner Gene Haas may actually be considering offering Magnussen a full-time non-racing position with the team for 2025.

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Kevin Magnussen at the Italian GP on August 31, 2023
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