Ollie Bearman hits Liam Lawson with cold-blooded message after overtake

A teenage Formula 1 driver put a fellow rookie in his place before he hit him with an ice-cold one word remark during the China GP.

Haas rookie Ollie Bearman delivered a cold-blooded remark to a struggling rival during the Chinese Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson has found himself on an early hot seat after struggling to find pace behind the wheel of the Red Bull.

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On Sunday things went from bad to worse for the 23-year-old when he was brutally overshadowed his fellow rookie.

The 19-year-old Haas driver hunted down his rookie rival and on lap 31 he produced a stunning move to get past him.

As they headed down the back straight towards the second last corner, Lawson ducked to the inside ahead of the hairpin which forced Bearman to take the outside line.

Bearman put the moves on his fellow rookie. Photo: Fox Sports.

Ice cold stuff from Ollie Bearman. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Instead of attempting to dart around the outside however, Bearman pulled off the switch back and danced up the inside of his Red Bull rival as they made their way towards the final corner.

Bearman however wasn’t finished there as he poured salt into Lawson’s wounds shortly after pulling off the overtake by delivering a cold-blooded, one-word message over the team radio.

“Ciao,” Bearman said.

Asked about the ice cold line post-race, Bearman smiled and said: “I feel really bad now.

“I overtook someone and I said Ciao. We had two switchbacks in Turn 14. It was with one of the Red Bulls and an Alpine. I was happy with those overtakes.”

Bearman's cold-blooded message after the overtake.

Despite Lawson ultimately finishing the race in 12th position, following three driver disqualifications, his future at Red Bull could be set to come to an early end.

Shortly after the Chinese Grand Prix came to an end a bombshell report emerged stating the team could look to swap Lawson out for Yuki Tsunoda before the Japanese Grand Prix on April 6.

“Amid a difficult start to the season for Lawson, Red Bull is already considering changing its driver line-up ahead of Suzuka, with Tsunoda named by paddock sources as a potential replacement,” motorsport.com reported.

“Although no final decision has been taken, discussions about such a scenario have begun – and the possibility of a driver swap between the two teams is understood to be likely.”

It could be over for Lawson after only two races. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Lawson’s horror results to start the season have Red Bull in third place in the constructors’ standings on 36 points, a long way behind Mercedes (57) and McLaren (78).

Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko confirmed the team is set to hold an emergency meeting to talk through the slow start to the season.

“This week there is a meeting in Milton Keynes to discuss when and how we can close the gap,” Marko told Sky DE.

“Until then, it’s about scoring as many points as possible.

“We are worried, but it is not like we are throwing in the towel.”

When discussing Tsunoda’s impressive form to start the 2025 season, Marko was glowing with his remarks.

“Yuki is a different Yuki from the years before. He is in the form of his life. Obviously he changed his management. He has a different approach. He’s more mature. It took a while, but now it looks like it’s working,” Marko said to motorsport.com.

Originally published as Ollie Bearman hits Liam Lawson with cold-blooded message after overtake