When Carlos Sainz was ruled out of the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP because of appendicitis, Ollie Bearman got the call-up from Ferrari. The young Briton did a commendable job by finishing P7 on his F1 debut. Bearman only stepped in for Sainz for one race as the Spaniard returned at the Australian GP. While Bearman was happy to see Sainz return, he was also a bit disappointed.
Bearman recently appeared on the F1: Beyond the Grid podcast, where host Tom Clarkson asked him if he was looking forward to racing in Melbourne. Bearman replied, “I was hoping to do a full weekend.”
The future Haas driver revealed that starting his Jeddah weekend from the third practice session made things more difficult for him. Having two race weekends in a row would have helped him tremendously, as he could have built from experience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“I was, of course, hoping for that,” he added. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t.” At the same time, Bearman knew Sainz was a ‘strong guy’.
As such, he was not expecting the Madrid-born driver to sit out another race and admitted that he was happy to see him back in action. Still, he wondered what could have been had he driven that afternoon in place of Sainz.
Sainz won the Australian GP this year, marking his third-ever F1 win with all of them coming with Ferrari. Bearman, meanwhile, returned to driving for Prema Racing in F2 until he got his chance again in September. However, this time it was for Haas.
Bearman’s first full F1 weekend in Baku
When Kevin Magnussen received a ban for accumulating 12 penalty points ahead of the Azerbaijan GP, Haas decided to give Bearman a full debut. The young Briton took part in the race weekend from FP1 onwards.
History made by Ollie Bearman!
He becomes the first driver EVER to score points for two different teams in his first two Grand Prix starts! #F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/VDpTcdNoyT
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 15, 2024
Although he suffered a crash in FP3 which could have demotivated him, the race went his way. Bearman finished P10, earning a solitary, but important point for Haas. He also made history by becoming the first driver in F1 to score points for two different teams in their first two races.
