Komatsu Calls Bearman €6m Contract Claim 'Absolute Nonsense'

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has flatly rejected claims that Oliver Bearman's management is demanding a €6million payment to finalise a 2027 contract, calling the story "absolute nonsense" in Friday's FIA press conference in Mexico City. The genuine sticking point is more consequential: Ferrari insiders say Bearman's camp wants assurance of a pathway to a Scuderia race seat in 2028.

Why it matters:

Contract sagas are usually about money. This one is about a driver's ceiling — and about how fast an unverified claim can harden into accepted fact. Bearman is the most credentialed Ferrari junior in years, and if Maranello won't guarantee him a route to the works team, plenty of rivals will happily offer one.

The details:

• The €6m figure traces back to an amateur blogger claiming inside knowledge of F1 business, then spread through aggregator sites and social accounts until repetition made it look like reporting.
• Komatsu said he first saw it when communications chief Stu Morrison forwarded him an Instagram post. "I don't know who smoked up this €6million number... it's just not even close to the truth."
• He likened it to a rumour that he had argued with Esteban Ocon in Miami: "absolutely zero truth in there." Komatsu added that outlets chasing clicks rarely check a source before cutting and pasting.
• The actual delay sits in 2028. Bearman's management is pushing for guarantees of a Ferrari race seat that year, working on the assumption Lewis Hamilton will retire.
• Rafael Camara's promotion to Haas, replacing Ocon, turns the F2 frontrunner into a direct rival for any future Ferrari vacancy — and every month of waiting costs Bearman ground in that argument.
• Komatsu on the machinery: "In '26 we made a mistake, so that's paying the price for '27 as well." Haas is channelling resources into a competitive 2027 chassis to keep both drivers invested.

What's next:

A Bearman extension remains the likeliest outcome — Komatsu talks openly about growing together and rates his potential — but the timing now rests on conversations in Maranello rather than Banbury. How quickly Ferrari clarifies its 2028 plans, and when Hamilton makes his own call, will decide how long this runs.