Former F1 team boss: “The door is open at Ferrari. He is the obvious candidate.”

Former Haas team boss Günther Steiner believes Oliver Berman is the obvious candidate to take over at Ferrari if Lewis Hamilton decides to retire after this season.

Berman joined the Ferrari academy in 2021 and is currently considered the program’s top talent. Despite his age (he is just 20), the Briton already has Formula 1 experience for Ferrari and Haas, and the 2025 season marks his debut in the championship.

The start of the year was not easy for Berman: a serious accident in the first practice before the opening Australian Grand Prix and a series of mistakes in the first half of the season. However, he showed a sharp improvement from the middle of the championship, regularly entering the 3rd quarter and constantly collecting points.

Berman has finished in the points field in seven of his last nine races, with his best finish being fourth at the Mexico City Grand Prix, where he competed with the likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

The only serious drawback of the season was the accumulation of penalty points; Before the start of the new championship, Berman was only two points away from automatic disqualification for one race.

Despite this, Steiner believes that the Briton’s progress and pace are beyond doubt and that Ferrari’s doors should open for him as early as 2027.

“He was fast at the beginning of 2025 but made mistakes. He recovered from them in the second half of the season.”

“Because in my opinion, he took too many risks with the car he had in the first half of the season and that’s why he had many accidents. This was not good. He received a lot of penalties and continued to collect penalties in the second half of the season.”

“But at the same time, even in races, he hasn’t made more mistakes. He has fought hard and we all know he can get through. “I think Ferrari’s door should be open to him in 2027, because if Lewis doesn’t get the success he needs, I don’t think he will continue.”

“And Berman is a clear candidate for Ferrari; the man is well prepared for Formula 1 and is showing good results. He also handles everything around him well.”