Oliver Bearman showed the world of Formula 1 in Saudi Arabia that he’s ready for a full-time seat on the grid and he’s now putting current drivers under some serious pressure.
The 18-year-old guided his Ferrari to seventh place in Jeddah, scoring six points and bizarrely moving into the top ten of the Drivers’ Standings while he sits bottom of the F2 rankings.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Formula 1 Podcast, Anthony Davidson shared the next steps the teenager could be able to take in his burgeoning F1 journey.
Oliver Bearman putting current F1 stars under pressure
Few young drivers would perform as well as Oliver Bearman did when he was thrown into the car at such short notice in Saudi Arabia.
He showed how capable he was of nailing the Jeddah Corniche Circuit by putting his PREMA on pole position in Formula 2 before abandoning the series for the weekend to achieve his dream of racing in F1.
Before arriving in Saudi Arabia, Bearman had already impressed Ferrari engineers with how quickly he got to grips with driving a Formula 1 car.
His drive that day was described as ‘world-class’ and must have made a few teams question why they didn’t take a chance on a rookie for 2024 when the grid remained the same for the first time in the sport’s history.
Bearman will more than likely be on the Formula 1 grid next year and that’s going to put several current drivers under pressure.
The paddock is expecting a big shake-up for 2025 and the sport will benefit from some fresh faces.
Ultimately, that means a few drivers will end up missing out on extending their F1 careers beyond 2024.
Davidson lauds Bearman, explains his next possible move in F1
Talking about the 18-year-old, Davidson said: “Ollie Bearman’s performance was remarkable, it really was. I know he had the second-best car by quite some margin, but still to only lose nine seconds to Charles Leclerc from the moment he passed [Nico] Hulkenberg in the race through to the end, when he was clearly physically really struggling as well.
“Around an anti-clockwise circuit, lots of left-hand corners, completely unconditioned to driving such machinery, in amongst the better single-seater drivers in the world with the spotlight on you at Ferrari, honestly what he did, many, not even young drivers, would be looking at that performance and thinking, ‘Wow, hats off to you mate’.
“That’s the kind of dream performance anyone would be looking to have if they were given that opportunity, no matter how experienced they were.
“He’s very much put himself in the spotlight at the top of people’s list in terms of new drivers to Formula 1 that should be or could be given a go.
“I’m sure there’s going to be lots of drivers looking over their shoulder that Bearman is a very valid prospect to take your drive.
“You have to look at the Haas drivers with the relationship that Haas have at Ferrari. Why not put him into a Haas in the short-term and let him develop further?”
Haas pairing Hulkenberg and Magnussen driving for their F1 futures
As Davidson suggests, both Haas drivers will be feeling under pressure from Bearman sooner rather than later.
The teenager has tested for the American outfit in the past and is expected to take part in several free practice sessions for them this year too.
The £75,000-a-week Dane is currently behind his 36-year-old teammate in the Drivers’ Championship, but his contribution can’t be ignored when looking at Nico Hulkenberg’s 10-place finish in Saudi Arabia.
The experienced German is being considered for a seat at Audi – currently Sauber – and that would potentially open up a space for Bearman.
Kevin Magnussen’s future appears to be less certain but Haas might not want to repeat their driver line-up in 2021 when they last took on two rookies.
Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin failed to score a point between them, but Bearman already appears to have much more potential than that pairing.
The post ‘Looking over their shoulder’: Sky pundit says Bearman has put £75k-a-week star and 36-year-old under pressure appeared first on F1 Oversteer.