F1 world champion Damon Hill says there’s a new ‘star’ on the scene after Oliver Bearman made his debut for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia.
18-year-old Bearman deputised for the ill Carlos Sainz at the second round of the world championship.
And he left 1996 title winner Hill stunned with his performance as he came home in seventh place.
Ferrari only called up Bearman on Friday, by which point Sainz had already competed in two practice sessions.
The Spaniard was admitted to hospital with appendicitis, and the F2 racer stepped in for final practice and qualifying.
He came within a few hundredths of knocking out Lewis Hamilton, the most successful driver in F1 history, in Q2.
From 11th on the grid, he ultimately progressed to seventh to score six points for the Scuderia.
It was the best performance by a debutant since Felipe Nasr finished fifth for Sauber at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix.
Damon Hill in awe of Oliver Bearman performance
Writing on Twitter, Hill raved about Bearman’s display amid the pressure of racing for Ferrari on an ‘intimidating’ circuit.
He was also impressed that Bearman held onto seventh as Hamilton and McLaren driver Lando Norris closed in in the final laps.
He wrote: “Star is born now! To jump in at such short notice, on a track as intimidating as Jeddah, in a Ferrari of all things, and hold up under immense pressure from Lando and Lewis and keep it together. Wow.”
Bearman is the ‘total package’
Hill wasn’t the only Sky Sports F1 pundit to applaud Bearman, with Martin Brundle noting that he’d kept ‘world-class’ drivers at bay in the first of what will be ‘many’ Grands Prix.
Haas team principal Ayo Komatsu regards the teenager, who will compete in six FP1 sessions for the team this season, as ‘a total package’.
Komatsu’s praise is particularly significant as Bearman, who had qualified on pole for the F2 feature race in Saudi Arabia, eyes an F1 seat for 2025.
Ferrari supply engines to the Haas team, who may offer the Briton his first shot in F1 as Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen approach the end of their contracts.
Nyck de Vries earned a seat at AlphaTauri off the back of a points-finish for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grands Prix when standing in for Alex Albon, who was also suffering with appendicitis.
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