18-year-old Oliver Bearman makes a surprising F1 debut with Ferrari. He is the third youngest driver of all time in the series.
Joel Sippola,
Jussi Jäkälä
The F1 weekend in Saudi Arabia will see a surprising debut for the 18-year-old Oliver Bearman the lucky Ferrari driver undergoing surgery Carlos Sainz. The appendix of the 29-year-old Spanish driver is inflamed.
Bearman received an emergency alert on Friday and missed the two free practices on Thursday. In Friday’s free practice, he was promisingly tenth.
Even in the qualifying sessions, you could see that he was going well. He was 11th, only narrowly missing the last section.
In the second race of the season, the pole position was taken by Red Bull Max Verstappen formerly a Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Red Bull Sergio Perez drove his car into the third square.
The British driver born in 2005 is Ferrari’s own academy driver. This year, he is driving his second season in the F2 series in the top Prema team. Last year he was sixth in his rookie season.
What makes the F1 debut particularly interesting is that Bearman drove to the pole position in the F2 time trials held on Thursday. However, due to the Ferrari accident, he will miss both F2 races of the weekend.
The Ferrari debut is a double-barreled affair for Bearman. As far as the F2 championship fight is concerned, he gives a fair handicap to his competitors. In the opening weekend, Bearman was completely out of points due to the team’s poor performance.
On the other hand, the surprising screen space on the Ferrari simply cannot be left unused.
Did not witness Räikkönen’s opening victory
Born in 2005, Bearman becomes the youngest ever driver to drive a race weekend in F1. Only those who debuted at the age of 17 have been younger than him Max Verstappen mixed Lance Stroll.
A fun statistical fact for Finns is that Bearman is the first F1 driver born Kimi Räikkönen after the first win. Räikkönen won his opening race in March 2003 at the Sepang track in Malaysia.
Also a two-time World Cup winner in the sport, a 42-year-old still driving in the F1 series Fernando Alonso was able to win that season. In the year Bearman was born, Alonso won his first drivers’ world championship.
Many thought that he would go to Ferrari next season About Lewis Hamilton becomes the first British driver for the Italian team since 1990 and By Nigel Mansell. However, the long streak in question was ended by an 18-year-old yellow bill.
An F1 racing driver next season?
Even though Bearman got into a tough place because of the cold, Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh however, reminds that Bearman has been prepared for such situations. For more than two years, the top talent belonging to Ferrari’s academy has been able to drive on an F1 simulator.
Last season, he got to drive a Haas car in a few free practices.
– He has also been able to try Ferrari. The readiness to drive is at a high level. Sure, the difference between formula one and formula two is quite big, but an F2 car is more tiring to drive than an F1 car, says Midlh.
Ferrari is known for not just throwing in young drivers. Before Bearman, the previous driver who made his F1 debut with Ferrari is Art Merzario no less than 52 years ago. The team’s current star driver, Charles Leclerc, drove for Ferrari for the first time when he was 21 years old, but before that he had one F1 season under his belt with Sauber.
A surprising lucky draw can also have its own risks. However, Mildh considers the screen space more of an opportunity.
Leclerc and Sainz have formed an even tough duo at Ferrari. You can’t expect the same level from Bearman, who is driving his first race. However, Ferrari’s car is competitive, which makes it a little easier to make a debut.
It is believed that Bearman will drive next season as an F1 race driver for Haas.
– You can get on the podium with that Ferrari car. It is important that he runs the race evenly and, above all, reaches the finish line. This is an important screen slot for him, as he is applying for an F1 driving position next season. I bet that after this season, quite a lot of places will change, so he can get into that roulette, says Mildh.
The second race of the Formula One season will be held on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1.27.472
2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1.27.791
3. Sergio Perez Red Bull 1.27.807
4. Fernando Alonso Aston Ma 1.27.846
5. Oscar Piastri McLaren 1.28.089
6. Lando Norris McLaren 1.28.132
7. George Russell Mercedes 1.28.316
8. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1.28.460
9. Yuki Tsunoda Racing B 1.28.547
10. Lance Stroll Aston Ma 1:28,57
11. Oliver Bearman’s Ferrari
12. Alexander Albon Williams
13. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas
14. Daniel Ricciardo Racing B
15. Nico Hulkenberg Haas
16. Valtteri Bottas Sauber
17. Esteban Ocon BWT Alpi
18. Pierre Gasly BWT Alpi
19. Logan Sargeant Williams
20. Guanyu Zhou Sauber