Ferrari was impressed by Oliver Bearman’s Formula 1 debut in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, highlighting how avoiding mistakes had been an “unrealistic” expectation.
Carlos Sainz had battled through what was suspected as food poisoning or a virus through the first two practice sessions, but it later transpired that he had appendicitis.
That meant the Spaniard had to skip the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the hospital on Friday to undergo a successful operation, ruling him out of action for the weekend.
Ferrari Vasseur called upon the services of reserve option and Prema Formula 2 driver Bearman to jump into the SF-24 for FP3 and the British teenager sparkled on debut.
At 18 years of age, Bearman acquitted himself well, narrowly missed out on a top-10 appearance in qualifying and picked up points with a fine drive to seventh in the race.
“Pace is, I don’t want to say easy to have, but it’s something that [rookies] can achieve,” Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur commented.
“The fact that he did a short weekend without FP1, FP2, without any mistake, for me it’s unrealistic. Honestly, I was completely impressed by this in Jeddah between the walls.
“He started the last lap of qualifying [in Q2] with nothing on the board and he was three hundredths, I think, behind Lewis [Hamilton]. With a clean Q2, I think he was able to do Q3.”
The pressure on Bearman was clear as he stepped in alongside Charles Leclerc to become the youngest driver to climb step into the cockpit of F1’s most-storied team.
However, Vasseur was impressed with his reserve driver’s calm approach to proceedings.
“He was very calm into the approach from the beginning [and] I think this was a huge asset for the weekend,” Vasseur added.
“I think you all remind him all the points of the story, that he’s the youngest driver at Ferrari and for him, it for sure was a huge pressure.
“But at the end of the day I think he was able to skip it from his mind and to be focused.
“He didn’t pay too much attention to details. He was focused on the big topic and at the end it went very well.
“I was scared that he could make a mistake on the pit stop or in the starting procedure as we saw a couple of times in the past with rookies, but he managed it very well.”
Bearman’s superb maiden F1 outing received praise from his counterparts, including Ferrari team-mate Leclerc, who said it’s a “matter of time” until he gets a full-time seat.
The inevitable question regarding Bearman’s future prospects was put to Vasseur, who reiterated that the Briton’s main focus will be a successful sophomore F2 season.
“He did one event,” Vasseur pointed out. “I think the best way to help him is not to draw a conclusion today.
“We have to take it easy, he will have other opportunities during the season.
“The main focus is and will stay the F2 this season. He has a huge challenge that I will keep in mind also that he was in pole position and I killed a weekend for him in F2.”
Alongside F2, Bearman’s reserve driver role will see him conduct test sessions in Ferrari’s 2022 ground effect car, the F1-75, plus six FP1 sessions with the Haas team.
Vasseur hinted that Bearman will also conduct FP1 sessions with Ferrari and noted that the overall programme will be used to assess his credentials for a promotion.
“He will do a couple of FP1 with us and Haas during the season,” Vasseur revealed. “And you know that all of you including me, in six months, won’t speak anymore about Jeddah.
“We’ll speak about Mexico, Brazil, if he’s doing well or not, and it means that every single day will be a new challenge. If he’s keeping the same approach as today it will go well.”
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