The 20-year-old Haas driver - who is currently fifth in the drivers’ standings - believes 16-year-old Thomas Bearman has "the talent" to join him in the competition, with the teenager recently finishing runner up in the 2026 Formula Winter Series and preparing to race in Italian F4 this year.

Ollie told Telegraph Sport of Thomas' chances of getting into F1: “I would put money on it. I think he has the talent. We drive a lot on the sim together.

"Over the winter break, we did an endurance race, a six-hour one, just the two of us. And we managed to win. I was really impressed by Thomas… I’m no sim professional, but we practised a lot for that race, and I was pretty quick. And Thomas was doing the exact same lap times as me.”

Ollie's dad, David Bearman, has been one of his biggest supporters and he is keen to make him "proud" with his career.

He said: “I think, over my career, he’s probably missed 10 per cent of my races, which, considering the number of races I’ve done… I can’t even imagine how many that is. It would be weird not having him there. My goal is to make him proud and do my best and share that feeling with him and my entire family.”

But he joked the insurance firm founder could face divided loyalties in future if Thomas also proves to have what it takes.

He quipped: “I don’t know whose garage he would stand in."