Alpine star Esteban Ocon thinks one young driver ‘definitely’ deserves his chance in a Formula 1 race following Oliver Bearman and Liam Lawson having successful cameos.
Ferrari and Visa Cash App RB have had to turn to their reserve drivers over the last year. The Scuderia hastily promoted Bearman into the pinnacle of motorsport at the Saudi Arabian GP to replace Carlos Sainz. While Lawson drove five races in place of Daniel Ricciardo in 2023.
Lawson was on hand to RB, then operating as AlphaTauri, as he holds a reserve driver role at the Faenza outfit plus Red Bull. Similarly, Bearman is one of Ferrari’s reserve drivers in 2024. While their sudden appearances on the Grand Prix grid also marked both drivers’ F1 debuts.
Bearman and Lawson shone as stand-in Formula 1 drivers
Lawson stepped in for Ricciardo at the 2023 Dutch GP after the Australian broke his hand at Zandvoort in FP2. The 22-year-old Kiwi impressed during his five Grand Prix entries, as well, and further scored points in the Singapore GP. Lawson finished the race in P9 at Marina Bay.
Bearman, meanwhile, scored points on his Formula 1 debut and is now the youngest British and Ferrari driver yet. The 18-year-old from Chelmsford finished the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP in P7, after replacing Sainz following the 2024 Australian GP winner’s appendicitis diagnosis.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
But Red Bull decided against giving Lawson a full-time 2024 race seat at Visa Cash App RB in favour of Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. While Bearman returned to his Formula 2 seat with Prema in Melbourne and scored the Briton’s first points of 2024 with P9 in the Feature race.
Ocon believes Alpine junior Doohan deserves his F1 shot
Now, Ocon believes Bearman and Lawson’s recent cameos show Alpine Academy gem Jack Doohan deserves a chance in Formula 1. The 21-year-old is without a drive in any series this year after turning down offers from elsewhere to focus on being Alpine’s F1 reserve driver.
“We’ve seen some good stuff from the F2 guys recently and, obviously, Jack has driven with them and won races,” Ocon has told Speedcafe. “No doubt that Jack deserves to drive more in Formula 1, deserves to have a shot at least in F1 in one race.
“He’s obviously helping a lot with the simulator work that he’s doing with the team and he’s a great asset to us, and a great character and team player, as well.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
“He’s done some really good work when he stepped in in FP1s in Mexico and Abu Dhabi in the last two years, and it’s a shame not to see him racing, definitely. I wish him the best for the future.”
Doohan and Alpine decided that a third year in Formula 2 would not further the Australian’s chances of reaching F1. The Queensland native finished third in the 2023 standings with 168 points to Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire’s 203 and Mercedes protégé Frederick Vesti on 192.
Driving for Invicta Virtuosi, Doohan also took three Feature race wins and two pole positions in 2023. He also won three races including two Sprint races as a rookie in 2022. Doohan also missed out on the 2021 Formula 3 title to Dennis Hauger after registering 179 points to 205.
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