“Not the Circumstances I Wanted”: Ollie Bearman Doesn’t Regard Saudi Arabia the Debut He Envisioned

With just one practice session to acclimatize himself to an F1 car, Oliver Bearman delivered a stellar performance in Jeddah. While the Briton appreciates Ferrari giving him the opportunity, he is not too thrilled with the way the opportunity presented itself.

Bearman got a call to prepare for F1 debut just three hours before the start of the third practice session. Carlos Sainz, who registered an impressive podium in Bahrain and looked good for the two practice sessions in Jeddah, was ruled out. The Spaniard was diagnosed with appendicitis and required emergency surgery. That opened the F1 gates for Oliver Bearman, who reflected on the opportunity in a recent video on Ferrari’s YouTube channel.

The 18-year-old said, “It was quite a surprise and quite a happy surprise, of course. Not the circumstances that I wanted to make my debut, through the misfortune of someone else but still it was a great opportunity.”

Despite getting just one session of practice, Bearman adapted quickly. In the qualifying session following the 3rd practice session, he finished P11. The F2 sensation was mighty close to knocking out Lewis Hamilton in Q2 and making his way to the Q3 session. Bearman made up for it with a clean yet aggressive drive in the race by finishing P7, two positions ahead of Hamilton.

The Prema driver has made a compelling case for a full-fledged season debut in 2025. The performance also started a debate among experts over a chance for Liam Lawson to follow suit. Unsurprisingly, rumors are already doing rounds over a possible move to Haas for Ollie. With Nico Hulkenberg reportedly being linked with Sauber/Audi, Bearman might just make the break. Kevin Magnussen hasn’t signed an extension for 2025 so far either.

Oliver Bearman left playing the catch-up game in F2

Oliver Bearman did not have the best of starts to the F2 season in Bahrain. He finished 15th in the feature race and 16th in the sprint race. However, the second round in Jeddah presented a perfect opportunity as he bagged the pole position in the qualifying. That was when the F1 duty called and he had to pull out of the F2 race. Consequently, Bearman is at the bottom of the table with 0 points to his name.

With drivers like Zane Maloney, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Dennis Hauger pulling ahead, it would be tough to catch up. However, the season has just begun and Bearman has ample opportunities to make ground. He is admittedly eager to pull out of the F1 spotlight to concentrate on the remainder of the F2 season.

Right after the race, Lewis waited until Oliver Bearman got out of his car to hug the driver pic.twitter.com/9Ptln5YhaH

— We Are Lewis Hamilton (@WEARELH_) March 9, 2024

Meanwhile, his Ferrari compadres are eager to see him compete with them in the future. An impressed Charles Leclerc believes it is only a matter of time before Ollie makes his full-time F1 debut. Future Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, who hugged Oliver at the end of the race, called him “a bright future star”.