There has been a lot of unpleasantness so far in the nascent stages of the latest Formula 1 season. Red Bull’s messy and problematic headlines off of the track has served to mar the team’s foreboding domination on it. Throw in some FIA controversy and there’s a potent mix of negativity for F1 fans to endure. Enter Oliver Bearman, your new favourite F1 driver.
Bearman, 18, was granted an unexpected F1 debut in Saudi Arabia this past weekend in less-than-ideal circumstances. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was sadly struck down by appendicitis after battling through the opening practice sessions on Thursday and had to undergo an operation Thankfully, Sainz’s procedure went well, and he recovered swiftly enough to be up and about in the paddock on Saturday, but his absence presented Team Principal Frederic Vasseur with the complicated scenario of needing to haul a driver into the most pressurised seat in racing.
Luckily for the French team boss, reserve driver Bearman was in town competing with Prema in Formula 2, having successfully snatched pole position on Thursday. Vasseur admitted that in calling up the young Brit to make his F1 debut he “killed a weekend for him in F2,” but having been given the opportunity, Bearman said that “there’s no way I’m gonna let it go.”
He then added: “The goal of F2 is to get to F1. “If I do a good weekend here in F1, it shows a lot more than winning the Feature race and doing well in F2.”
And so Bearman became Ferrari’s youngest-ever F1 driver and the third youngest driver in the sport’s history to make their debut. Born after Michael Schumacher won his final title and during Fernando Alonso’s first championship run, Bearman is youth and exuberance defined.
The challenge ahead of him couldn’t have been bigger. With just a single practice session to acclimatise to the scarlet red SF-24 before qualifying around the fearsome, high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit with the eyes of the world’s media on him and the overalls of the sport’s most-storied team upon his back. However, betraying his young years, Bearman surpassed expectation.
“There’s no way I was ready at 18,” exclaimed seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton. But Bearman was. On the pace quickly in FP3, he surprised the paddock by narrowly missing out on a spot in the Q3 top-10 shootout in qualifying. A disrupted and scrappy Q2 session meant the 18-year-old had just one shot to nail a lap and he posted the 11th fastest time, just 0.036s shy of Hamilton to make the top-10 cut. Cue praise from the rest of the F1 elite, including champions.
“To have to jump in without doing [much] practice, like he has, it was mega, I’m really impressed,” said Hamilton. “It just shows what talent he is. I know how tough it was but he got confidence on it straight away.”
“To be P11, only six-tenths off pole, that is more than I think you could have asked from him,” added Max Verstappen.
Alonso, more than twice Bearman’s age at 42, said: “He is a great driver, very talented, this is not the easiest track to make your debut but he did fantastically well today and I think he will have a strong race tomorrow.”
Alonso’s prediction proved to be correct. 50 laps of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the pressure of a first F1 start, pitting during a frantic Safety Car period (triggered by a rookie error from Lance Stroll), battling past rivals and putting in laps to prevent a late race challenge from a hard-charging Lando Norris on Soft tyres late on all came Bearman’s way and he thrived. P11 through to P7 and a solid haul of grand prix points. Bearman did good… not good, great.
One look at Stroll’s crash demonstrated how fine the margins are on a street track, but Bearman exuded calmness and looked assured at the wheel of an F1 car. His overtaking manoeuvres were well thought out, not rushed, but calculated. Rather than hastily rush past slower rivals, Bearman bided his time against the likes of Nico Hulkenberg and Zhou Guanyu.
So, whilst fans despaired at another routine Red Bull one-two, Bearman provided something positive and a refreshing narrative on another processional F1 weekend. Briton’s latest F1 star was the rightful recipient of the Driver of the Day accolade with a landslide majority.
“He completely deserves it [the Driver of the Day award],” said team-mate Charles Leclerc. “Seventh in your first race in Formula 1 having done only in FP3 in a new car is just hugely impressive. I’m sure he’s extremely proud but everybody has noticed how talented he is and I guess it’s just a matter of time before he comes here in Formula 1.”
Regarding his chances of earning a permanent place on the F1 roster, Bearman admitted: “I don’t know what else I can do, because I don’t think I’ll be in F1 for the rest of the year. So that was my goal, to do a great showing this weekend. I think I did a decent job, so that’s alright. And yeah, that’s all I can do, to push in F2 and cross my fingers, that’s it.”
Based on this audition, there’s little reason to argue against giving Bearman a full-time drive on the 2025 grid, even if his F1 experiences will be limited to a testing role until that time.
