British teenager Oliver Bearman realised a dream on Friday when he made his competitive Formula One debut for Ferrari and qualified an impressive 11th for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Bearman, 18, the team’s reserve driver, was given a dramatic call-up on Friday morning to replace Carlos Sainz, who was diagnosed with appendicitis.
The Spaniard had driven in severe pain in both practice sessions on Thursday and underwent surgery on Friday, hoping to recover in time for the Australian Grand Prix later this month.
At just 18 years and 306 days old, Bearman becomes the youngest-ever Ferrari driver.
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“When I woke up, I was mentally preparing for my Formula Two race, and starting from P10,” said Bearman, who is now the youngest driver in Ferrari’s F1 history.
“Instead, I was chucked into the deep end for FP3 and qualifying in F1.
“It was not the ideal situation and I do feel really sorry for Carlos and I wish him the best, but it is a fantastic opportunity and I’m a bit disappointed with everything … But it was a fun day out there.”
He was told of his promotion less than two hours before third practice began, saying: “I didn’t have the time to get nervous or overthink it. It was so late I had to focus on getting up to speed and catch up on lost time.”
With his father David pacing the back of the Ferrari garage and appearing to be struggling with nerves, his son drove with aplomb.
“The big differences for me from F2 to F1 are the evolution of the track, which is a big thing, and the grip. The grip is incredible. After my first lap, I was quite shocked.
“In F2, you drive at the limit of the car, but in F1 you drive at the limit of the driver – it’s what the driver is prepared to do and that’s a great feeling, but it takes some time to get used to. But super-fun.”
Remarkably, his first lap in F1 practice was a full nine seconds faster than the time that won him pole position in F2.
Asked how proud he felt of his achievements, he said: “At the moment, not so proud as the racer in me knows that the car was quick enough to be in Q3 so I am a bit disappointed with that.
“But I think when I look back in a couple of days I’m going to be quite proud of what I managed to do today.
“The goal was to do as many laps as possible because I was missing a few especially at night because I missed FP2 which is not ideal.”
– ‘AWESOME JOB’ –
Watching a video of the session nearby, he stopped talking.
“Wow, I was close to the wall there!” he said. “I didn’t notice that. I’ll take more care tomorrow.”
His father David said: “I’m very proud indeed. He did an awesome job. Yes, it was a little stressful for me as you can imagine.”
He added that there were no expectations of his son ahead of Saturday’s race under lights at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. “No, none at all. Just go and enjoy it.”
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who is set to move to Ferrari and replace Sainz next year, qualified 0.036 seconds ahead of Bearman in 10th place, praised Bearman.
He said: “I didn’t see his qualifying, but I think he did an amazing job in practice. To jump into a car in FP3 and deliver the way he has is really, really impressive.
“I’m really happy for him to have the opportunity. It also highlights the car is pretty good – one of the drivers is number two (on the grid). But a great, great effort for today and I’m sure tomorrow he’ll have a great time.”
Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc said: “I’m really impressed by Ollie. I watched him in Formula Two and I remember watching his laps in Mexico last year in Haas [in practice]
“I thought he was driving really well. He definitely exceeded my expectations because being thrown in, in FP3, is a challenge at the best of times, let alone on a circuit like this. So well done to him.”
“What he has done has been very, very impressive,” said world champion Max Verstappen.
Verstappen added: “It’s super hard to jump in on a track like this.
“I was watching his first few laps in FP3, because that’s where you can judge if someone is a bit comfortable or not in the car. And by lap two, lap three, I was like: ‘OK, that’s a strong start. I like to see that.’
“And, yeah, to be P11, I think only at the time 0.6 secs off (the fastest lap), that is more than I think you could have asked from him.
“And I hope, of course, he also enjoyed it a little bit out there because it’s quite stressful, you know, when you come into a new team, basically, a new car and without any experience on this track.
“So, yeah, hopefully he’s happy with himself, also, not that he says, ‘I didn’t make it to Q3’ or whatever, because I think everyone within the paddock has seen that he did a great job.”
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