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Fred Vasseur is planning to transform Ferrari's relationship with Haas into a formal junior driver pathway that mirrors Red Bull's long-established model with Racing Bulls. The Ferrari team principal has confirmed the Scuderia is actively preparing Brazilian prospect Rafael Camara for a potential 2026 debut at the American outfit, which already fields Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman. The move would give Ferrari control over young driver development while Haas gains access to talent and technical support, a dynamic that has defined Red Bull's dominance in grooming championship contenders for over a decade.
Haas has relied on Ferrari power units since entering the sport in 2016, but the collaboration has deepened considerably in recent seasons. Bearman, now in his second year with the team, represents the most visible outcome of that integration. The 20-year-old has consistently outperformed teammate Esteban Ocon, who joined from Alpine in 2025 but has struggled to match the Ferrari academy graduate's pace. Ocon's contract expires at the end of 2026, and his seat is far from secure.
Ferrari's growing investment in Camara
Vasseur told Brazilian outlet UOL that Ferrari's commitment to Camara extends well beyond the financial backing typically associated with junior programs. The team has invested heavily in track time using older Formula 1 machinery, a resource-intensive approach designed to accelerate his readiness for grand prix racing.
"We are supporting Rafael a lot. It's not just financial support. We have supported him financially, but we have also invested heavily this year in training with older cars," Vasseur explained. "The cost of that is much, much higher than the financial support. To prepare him as well as possible for next week's test and for next season, Haas, as a partner, will try to find the best way to bring him to Formula 1 next year."
Camara is scheduled to take part in an upcoming test, widely seen as a final evaluation ahead of a potential race seat. If he secures the drive, Haas would field two Ferrari juniors, cementing the American team's role as a development outlet rather than an independent constructor chasing its own identity.
The Red Bull blueprint
The structure Vasseur envisions closely resembles Red Bull's arrangement with Racing Bulls, formerly Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri. That setup has produced multiple world champions and race winners, including Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo. Racing Bulls serves as both a proving ground and a holding pattern, allowing Red Bull to assess talent over multiple seasons without committing senior seats prematurely.
Ferrari has historically struggled with driver development compared to Red Bull and even Mercedes, which has benefited from long-term partnerships with Williams and, more recently, McLaren through Lando Norris' early backing. Charles Leclerc remains the only current Ferrari academy product to have graduated to the main team in the past decade. Establishing Haas as a dedicated feeder program would address that structural weakness and provide a clearer route for prospects like Camara and future graduates from Formula 2 and Formula 3.
Haas stands to gain, but at what cost?
For Haas, the arrangement offers stability in driver selection and access to Ferrari's vast engineering resources. Gene Haas, the team's owner, has long emphasized cost control, and fielding Ferrari-funded juniors reduces financial exposure while maintaining competitiveness. The risk is strategic autonomy. A team that exists primarily to develop another constructor's talent risks being sidelined in technical and operational decision-making, particularly if Ferrari's priorities diverge from Haas's own ambitions.
Bearman's performances have already demonstrated the potential upside. If Camara follows a similar trajectory, Ferrari will have successfully replicated Red Bull's model without needing to establish a second team outright. Whether Haas can maintain an independent identity within that framework remains the central tension in this evolving partnership.
Dutch Grand Prix
I. Hadjar
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