“Kimi Antonelli Was Always Ahead of Ollie”: Nyck de Vries Calls Mercedes Prodigy ‘Very Special’ Amidst Bearman’s Rise

Oliver Bearman made a scintillating debut for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, filling in for Carlos Sainz on a short notice and finishing the race in P7. His impressive performance earned him plenty of praise, but according to Nyck de Vries, Kimi Antonelli, Bearman’s F2 counterpart  deserves equal attention.

The former AlphaTauri driver praised Antonelli and held him in higher regard than Bearman. “Everyone is talking about Ollie Bearman. Because he did a very good, solid job. But if you look at Ollie, he did obviously a season in Formula 2,” said de Vries in Pelas Pistas podcast.

The Dutchman went on to describe Antonelli’s F2 season, and why it is better than Bearman’s. “If you look at all the testing in Bahrain in the first weekend. Even though the team was not necessarily performing, Kimi was always ahead of Ollie. 

De Vries, who won the 2019 F2 championship, went on to say that Antonelli’s team Prema have not hit the ground running yet, which is why the Italian’s best version is yet to be seen. To him, Antonelli is much more special than the 18-year-old British driver.

Antonelli’s rise is very important for Mercedes, his probable employer in the future. He is a part of their academy, and is already linked as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton next year, when the latter moves to Ferrari. This move, however, could be unlikely because of his lack of experience. Bearman on the other hand, has a much better chance at reaching the pinnacle of motorsports in 2025.

Antonelli is yet to prove himself in an F1 machinery, something Bearman has already excelled at in Jeddah. This experience puts Bearman in a better position, and he is already being linked to F1 teams, despite De Vries labeling Antonelli as the bigger talent.

Where does Ollie Bearman stand compared to Kimi Antonelli?

After three race weekends in F2, Kimi Antonelli has a comprehensive lead over Ollie Bearman. The former is in P9 with 19 points, 17 ahead of Bearman who is in P19. However, things could have been very different for Bearman, had his F1 dream not come true.

The 18-year-old had to suit up for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia in the second round. He got the pole position in Jeddah for the F2 feature race, but was forced to abandon the weekend altogether. Presumably, he would have earned a big chunk of points, which could have brought him closer to, if not ahead of Antonelli.

Interestingly, Bearman has more points in F1 than he does in F2, despite the latter being his main series. To have a serious shot at driving in F1 full-time next season, Bearman knows that he needs to step up in the series he is meant to excel in. Even Haas’ Kevin Magnussen insisted that if Bearman doesn’t make improvements and win races in F2, his one-time outing in F1 will be forgotten in time.