Ferrari claims Oliver Bearman’s F1 debut didn’t have “a single mistake”

Oliver Bearman was faultless during the race according to Ferrari and it gives them a lot of confidence for the future.

Ferrari claims Oliver Bearman’s F1 debut didn’t have “a single mistake”

Charles Leclerc [L], Oliver Bearman [R] (images via IMAGO)

Oliver Bearman, F2 championship contender, and Ferrari reserve driver was asked to replace Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian GP after the Spaniard underwent emergency surgery on Friday due to an appendicitis diagnosis. Bearman, who qualified in pole position on Thursday was ready to compete for his first F2 win of the season when he got the call. He was only given an hour of practice in the Ferrari SF-24 in FP3 before qualifying at Jeddha.

Oliver Bearman qualified at P11 ahead of experienced drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon. The teenage British driver moved up four positions during the race to finish seventh ahead of veterans such as Nico Hulkenberg, Lando Norris, and Lewis Hamilton. Bearman was chosen as the day’s best driver of the day of the day, following his impressive run and Ferrari has huge praise for his race that saw him making no mistakes.

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I was a bit balanced on the radio between ‘push because it’s manageable’ and ‘avoid a mistake’. But at the end, on the data, he didn’t do a single mistake all the race.
 It means that we were quite relaxed, I don’t know if it’s possible when you have a rookie into the car, but we were quite relaxed and he did very, very well
Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur said via RaceFans.

The Ferrari Team Principal, Fred Vasseur, detailed how he felt the young Englishman performed. He highlighted the mistake-free race Bearman had and added that the 18-year-old was surprisingly composed in the car compared to other rookies’ attitudes when they made their debut.

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Hass F1 boss Aayo Komatsu ‘impressed’ by Oliver Bearman’s performance

Aayo Komatsu, the team principal of Haas was impressed by Oliver Bearman’s performance. Komatsu thinks Bearman deserves a full-time seat in F1 and highlighted how good Bearman was last year when he tested in FP3 ahead of the 2023 Mexican GP. He also acknowledged that it is not easy for a driver to directly jump in a car at a track like Jeddah where there are high-speed corners.

Oliver Bearman
Oliver Bearman (via IMAGO)

Bearman not only impressed Komatsu but also other people on the grid. Komatsu also added that an opportunity for Bearman is guaranteed by no means in Haas as they have not selected any driver for Haas in 2025.

Last year when we ran him in FP1 (first practice) sessions in Mexico and Abu Dhabi straight away it was obvious that he’s a total package, he’s so impressive. So I was very happy that we got him for six FP (practice)runs this year and very happy for him
Komatsu said.

Bearman was also appreciated by Carlos Sainz. Sainz remarked that Bearman did his job very well. The British driver needs to wait a lot for 2 or 3 years more to drive for Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been confirmed for 2025. But Bearman might find opportunities from other teams.

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