Set the scene. It’s March 7, a Thursday, and practice sessions are underway for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Podium finisher at Bahrain, Carlos Sainz, is not driving normally. What’s wrong? Oh no! He says he doesn’t feel well. Later: breaking news! He has appendicitis! He needs surgery! He’s out for the weekend! Whatever will Ferrari do? Everyone is shocked. Ferrari pulls up their reserve driver from Formula 2. Will he be able to handle the pressure and rise to the challenge in such a short amount of time? Qualifying is tomorrow. Thursday’s practice sessions are already over. Can he do it? Well, of course he can; Ferrari’s reserve driver is none other than the outstanding Oliver Bearman!
On Friday, March 8, eighteen year old Oliver “Ollie” Bearman made his Formula 1 debut on one of the tricker circuits with less than an hour of practice time in the SF-24. At the news of Carlos’ temporary demise, Ollie was given his chance to compete with the best of the best in a relatively uncommon mid-season debut. Additionally, as the youngest ever driver with Scuderia Ferrari and the first to debut with them since 1972, there was an immense amount of anticipation to see how he would fare (spoiler: he aced it).
Beginning with qualifying, Ollie finished Sector 2 0.036 seconds away from making it to Sector 3. Though far from the Pole position he had earned for Formula 2 that weekend (which was then, unfortunately, wasted when he dropped out to fill Carlos’ seat), it was a pretty good start considering his circumstances. Also, note that Lewis Hamilton finished Q2 in position 10. Ollie was less than four hundredths of a second from knocking an eight time world champion out of Q3 on his first ever qualifying. Albeit, Hamilton hasn’t exactly been performing at championship level lately, but even just by comparing experience Ollie’s P11 finish seems pretty decent.
On race day, Ollie took his not-even-bad-qualifying as a baseline to improve from. He started strong, and pretty fearlessly. His now-famous overtake of Yuki Tsunoda earned a fair amount of surprise and then ecstatic cheering from me and presumably, other viewers, because not only was he on colder tires thanks to the restart, Tsunoda packs a fair bit of aggressive driving into his small stature, making him not-so-easy to pass. The move was well done and a fair show of skill from Ollie.
In another show of skill, one not so flashy as smooth overtakes but just as if not more amazing was his pace. Statistically as the race progressed his pace improved, inching him closer and closer to his much more experienced teammate.
Figure 1
This impressed me because the SF-24 is nothing like his usual Dallara F2 car. Though he’s a Ferrari Driver Academy member, an official grand prix is not something that can be mimicked well in a simulation. He had to hold a race pace much faster than his usual for an entire hour longer than usual all in a car that has more to its name than any other car on the track, and even with all of this, he managed to get better in the later part of the race. Matching and in some cases exceeding the pace of fellow talented and experienced drivers.
Figure 2
He finished P7, up four places from his P11 start. Based on the statistics, his improvement in pace was in fact necessary for him to stay ahead of Norris and Hamilton (though remember team strategy also accounts for his lead over them). His performance, humorously, put him 10th in the Formula 1 drivers championship for a couple weeks— given, he was in a very quick Ferrari, which accounts for much of his success, but still, for his only race in F1 that’s not too bad.
With all considered, Ollie’s real proof that he can make it in Formula 1 was his head. His driving was incredible, but only so incredible because he managed to stay calm with a world of pressure on his shoulders. He’s eighteen. Eighteen and he did not panic, or decide he wasn’t ready, or at any point lose himself under the pressure. Formula 1 is driving ability yes, but seen over and over again, it is mental ability first. Ollie did it for this race, and I have every bit of confidence that he can do it for others.
Ultimately, he was the star of the show (voted driver of the day too) and deserves a round of deafening applause for his efforts. He has resumed racing in Formula 2 and training at the Ferrari Driver’s Academy for 2024, but I continuously root for his rise to Formula 1, one he has shown he is completely worthy of.
Oliver Bearman
Oliver in his SF-24 for the weekend (left) Oliver’s “bear hug” with his dad post race (right)