New Haas signing and Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) star Rafael Câmara will continue his rapid career ascent as a Formula 1 rookie in 2027.
Câmara, 21, will replace Esteban Ocon at Haas next season and partner fellow FDA member Oliver Bearman.
The only way has been up for Câmara recently: he won the Formula 3 championship in 2025 and, as of the announcement of his signing, he leads the Formula 2 championship with two races to run.
The highly-rated Brazilian has been part of the FDA since 2022 -- that year he finished third in Italian F3 and was F1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s teammate in the 2022 ADAC Championship, also finishing third.
Câmara comes from a racing family. His grandmother, Niége Rossiter, was a successful race driver in the Recife region and won races at a state level.
His elevation continues Brazil’s proud F1 heritage -- he will become the nation’s 34th driver, joining fellow compatriot Gabriel Bortoleto, who races for Audi.
Bortoleto’s debut season had ended seven years without a Brazilian driver -- before Felipe Massa’s retirement in 2017, there had been at least one on the grid every year stretching back to 1970.
A Ferrari audition season?
Haas’ lineup will be a storyline worth keeping an eye on in 2027.
Putting Bearman and Câmara alongside each other in equal machinery will make a fascinating narrative in terms of who might one day end up racing for the Prancing Horse -- it will give Ferrari the clearest data comparison possible.
Haas has been a Ferrari customer since it made its Formula 1 debut in 2016 but has not had two drivers from the Italian team before.
Rising star Bearman made his debut for Haas in 2024 with two stand-in appearances for Kevin Magnussen before being signed to a full-time drive for 2025.
He has actually raced for Ferrari already, making his F1 debut as Carlos Sainz’s stand-in earlier that season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
He has widely been seen as the next in line for Ferrari for some time, but an opening does not look likely to appear any time soon.
Charles Leclerc recently signed a bumper extension taking him into the 2030s, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has a contract until the end of 2027 at least -- sources have told ESPN there are options to continue beyond that and the growing feeling is that as things stand Hamilton will race for Ferrari beyond that time.
Bearman recently talked about how Hamilton’s 2026 resurgence was good to see, but bad news in terms of his own prospects of moving up.
“As an F1 fan and a Lewis fan as well, it’s pretty cool to see him performing at the level he is,” Bearman told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast. “Seeing him on the top step in Barcelona was quite a special moment for British F1 in general. It was three Brits on the podium, with the best driver we’ve ever seen in P1. That’s something pretty special.
“Of course, in terms of my future, that’s not ideal. But I’m still young. I’m only 21. I’m not in a huge rush, and for me, staying at Haas for the foreseeable is not a bad thing. I feel like there’s a lot to learn at this team. There’s a lot to still achieve.”
Bearman has comprehensively out-performed current teammate Ocon in their year and a half together and most will expect him to do the same against a rookie next year.
Should that not happen, Ferrari’s next driver might not be such a safe bet.