Ollie Bearman has quickly become all the rage in F1, owing to an impressive debut in difficult circumstances. He entered the SF-24 for the first time mere hours before the Qualifying session in Jeddah. Bearman made it to Q2 and was three-hundredths of a second away from qualifying for Q3. In the Grand Prix, the 18-year-old showed grit and determination with a touch of aggression to secure P7 for his team. Taking note of his impressive performances, calls are now increasing to showcase more young talent on the grid instead of having older drivers continue racing.
Entering the grid on very short notice, Bearman was faster than half the grid, including 7X world champion Lewis Hamilton. He started the race sandwiched between Lance Stroll and Alex Albon. Bearman also faced competition from Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen but outlasted them all. However, the British driver was modest in his response when reflecting on his performance, as quoted by The Athletic.
“I don’t know what else I can do because I don’t think I’ll be in F1 for the rest of the year. So that was my goal, to do a great showing this weekend. I think I did a decent job, so that’s alright. And yeah, that’s all I can do, to push in F2 and cross my fingers,” said Bearman.
Ferrari chairman John Elkann was also present at the race venue and saw the Ferrari Academy driver shine bright. Addressing his performance alongside Charles Leclerc‘s, Elkann claimed it was a matter of great pride for the organization. He added it has always been a goal of Ferrari to bet on young drivers, and Leclerc and Bearman are examples of the same.
Meanwhile, F1 pundit Naomi Schiff became an advocate for the young drivers following the Saudi Arabian GP. She claimed that there were some drivers “blocking seats on the grid” for multiple decades. Clarifying that she doesn’t claim that experienced drivers did not deserve the seats, Schiff claimed it was perhaps time for teams to showcase more young talent on the grid.
Fans want more of Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman and other exciting young talent
Last year, it was Liam Lawson, and this year, it is Ollie Bearman. Two young drivers have had to step in under difficult circumstances and did a tremendous job. Both of them earned huge praise for their performance, but, in the end, had to go back to F2. Fans have taken note of the same and took to Twitter (now X) to express their feelings. They claim the sport of F1 needs younger talent to mix things up and make races much more exciting.
One fan referred to certain drivers as “some bums” when making a case for the younger drivers.
A few others also sided in favor of young talent as opposed to experience on the grid.
At 18, Bearman became the third-youngest driver in history to debut in F1. Meanwhile, Lawson is 22, and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is widely regarded as one of the most exciting upcoming drivers, is merely 17.
There are plenty of more young drivers like Theo Pourchaire, Frederik Vesti, and Felipe Drugovich waiting for their breakthrough. Given the same, F1 teams might need to think about coming up with a way to field more young drivers on the grid.
