Oliver Bearman made his debut in Formula 1 with Ferrari team. He appreciated Lewis Hamilton for “pulling him out of the car” following a sensational race in Saudia Arabia.
Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, dropped out of race for appendicitis and the British young driver replaced him before Friday’s FP3. He impressed all in his single practice session where he managed to qualify 11th. Later during the race, the 18 year old British driver kept his successful F1 debut while finishing seventh on Sunday.
Bearman received universal appreciation from his F1 peers like Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc also praised his team mate for his successful performance.
Hamilton helped the new driver out of his car who struggled to get out of his car after a demanding circuit.
“I grew up watching these guys fighting and it was nice to share the track with them,” Bearman said. “It was a pleasure to have their recognition.
“[Lewis] was basically pulling me out of the car because I was struggling.
“It was really physical. In a race like this – one of the lowest-degradation tracks of the season and one of the highest lateral G – you are pretty much doing 50 qualifying laps.”
Being a Ferrari reserve driver, the British driver remained prepared to fill in the seat at short notice to replace Sainz. However, his strongest suit was not preparation rather his composed and calm performance.
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He remained strong despite an intense start and first lap incident. But he managed to keep up with drivers ahead. He said: “Honestly, surprisingly it felt like any other race.
“The procedure is a bit different to F2 race start, but once the lights were on you were focusing on what is around you.
“Luckily the F4 radios weren’t broadcast, but in F3 I was a bit more irate and I’ve learnt over the years that doesn’t bring any performance.
“No matter what I tried to stay calm, especially in a situation like this. We knew the race was going to come towards us so I stayed calm and let it come.
Bearman believes he kept “learning on the job” after Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg outsmarted him.
“On the restart I did a pretty good move on [Tsunoda] and I don’t think he expect me to cover the inside.
“I had a lot more pace than these guys and they were just a bit smarter than me with energy usage, which is something I’ve never had to do before.
“I was pretty much learning on the job. Especially with Nico, he seemed to use his battery in all the right places and I seemed to use it in all the wrong places, so it took me a few laps to figure it out.
“I stayed disciplined and didn’t try to overpush.”
