Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok noticed Oliver Bearman do one ‘really clever’ thing during the Ferrari reserve driver’s debut at the Saudi Arabian GP on Saturday.
The Scuderia rushed to promote 18-year-old Bearman on Friday afternoon after Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis. He was due to compete in Formula 2 with Prema in Jeddah and also took pole position for the Feature race. But he did not show any lack of experience.
Bearman expertly withstood early pressure from Haas star Kevin Magnussen after starting in 11th. The Chelmsford native only missed out on a place in Q3 in qualifying by 0.036 seconds to Lewis Hamilton. Yet he would see out the Saudi Arabian GP ahead of the Mercedes driver.
Bearman impressed Chandhok at the Saudi Arabian GP
An early pit stop to switch his soft compound tyres for Pirelli’s hards during the safety car for Lance Stroll’s crashed Aston Martin let Bearman run long in his Ferrari. Mercedes elected for the opposite strategy and left Hamilton to run long before he took softs for the final stages.
Ferrari’s decision to stop Bearman early allowed him to run P7 by the time that Lando Norris and Hamilton stopped. But the Prema F2 sensation had already impressed Chandhok whilst Bearman showed his intelligence when chasing down Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda.
“Bearman is being really clever up at Turn 13,” Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (9/3, 17:13). “He’s using a different line to Yuki Tsunoda.
“He’s not following the normal trajectory through that corner just to get out of the dirty air. Get some more clean air onto his front wing [and] pick up some downforce.”
Bearman is the youngest British and Ferrari F1 driver ever
Bearman hounded Tsunoda over P10 on Lap 6 of the Saudi Arabian GP as the Ferrari reserve driver impressed Chandhok. Points on debut, whilst becoming the youngest British driver to contest a Grand Prix and also the youngest Ferrari driver, marked a fine reward for the teen.
The Saudi Arabian GP will likely be Bearman’s only taste of an F1 race at least for the rest of 2024, though. Sainz intends to return to his VF-24 at the Australian GP on March 24, having undergone a successful surgery for appendicitis this Friday before returning to the paddock.
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