Guenther Steiner brands Ollie Bearman best F1 rookie: "I signed him up in '23, you know"

Guenther Steiner has backed Oliver Bearman as the best rookie of the 2025 Formula 1 season after an impressive fourth-place finish at the Mexico Grand Prix.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast following the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Steiner joked that the Haas driver could have been a race winner if the former team principal was still working in the paddock.

"I have to say it because I signed him up in '23, you know,” he laughed. “Genius signing. Obviously, he needs to be the best rookie of the year. I mean, what else can he be? I signed him up in '23, you know, if you do a good job in FP1, you get more FP1s in '24, which he obviously got.

"But by then, I wasn't there anymore. So, can you imagine if I were still there, he would be winning races now, you know," he joked.

"In the moment, what he showed in Mexico was very good. I mean, he kept it cool, qualified good, because before he always made... not always... a few times he made mistakes. Proper rookie mistakes, and that's why he has got so many penalty points. And it's under pressure.

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Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"I think Ollie forgets that he's only two away from being banned for a race. But in Mexico he didn't put a foot wrong. It was perfect. What more can you do?"

He was further asked about how he felt watching the young driver score Haas's joint-highest position since Romain Grosjean finished fourth at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.

“I was very happy for Ollie. The team in Mexico especially, they had a good car there, Ollie did a good job, and to finish fourth is fine. Still the people which are there, I'm happy for them. Not for all of them. Not for all of them as I keep on mentioning, but for most of them... most of them I'm happy for.”

Bearman narrowly missed out on his and the team's maiden podium after driving as high as third before Max Verstappen overtook him. Following his Mexican campaign, the young Briton received the Driver of the Day award.

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