Bearman’s bittersweet F1 debut “hurts” following 0.036s margin to Q3

Oliver Bearman was just 0.036 seconds away from a Q3 appearance on his F1 qualifying debut, with the 18-year-old set to start his maiden Grand Prix from P11 after a fantastic qualifying effort this morning. 

“I woke up this morning focusing on my F2 race, starting P10 to think, ‘how can we maximise that?’, and then at some stage, it was clear that I had to get in the F1 car,” Bearman said.

After stepping in for Carlos Sainz, who was diagnosed with appendicitis and has since had a “smooth operation”, Bearman will become the youngest ever Scuderia Ferrari driver in the team’s rich history, taking lights out in Saudi Arabia tomorrow at 18 years and 306 days old. 

“It’s been a great day but it could have been even better.

“It wasn’t the ideal way of making my F1 debut and of course, I send all my best wishes to Carlos for a speedy recovery. 

“But it’s a great opportunity nevertheless.”

Ferrari Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur notified Bearman three hours before jumping in the cockpit of the SF-24 that he would be replacing Sainz for the remainder of the weekend, leaving the F2 driver with less than an hour of track time to come to terms with the completely new car. 

Circuit staff replace an ill Carlos Sainz’s garage banner with his replacement, Oliver Bearman. Image: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images.

FP3 for Bearman was all about familiarising himself with Sainz’s SF-24, as well as the processes of Formula 1 including tyre warmers and delta lap times around one of the most difficult circuits of the year.

The session was interrupted by a late Red Flag, with Zhou Guanyu crashing into the barriers at Turn 8 with 20 minutes on the clock.

With 10 minutes remaining, the field was able to resume running, with Bearman taking to the soft tyre for the very first time.

He ended the productive session with the 10th fastest time, ahead of his first competitive session in Formula 1.

“I would have liked to have come to quali with more than the 22 laps I did in FP3. 

“But I can still be happy with today, even if Q2 was a bit messy. 

“It was so close, but I made a mistake on my first push lap, so I had to do a second one and by then the tyres were no longer at their best.”

As qualifying approached, all eyes were on the Prema Racing Driver who had managed to secure Pole position for the F2 Feature race. 

Oliver Bearman leaves the pitlane during qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

The 18-year-old’s first official timed lap was a 1:30.136s, a time which ultimately put him in last place as he began to find his groove.

Bearman finished Q1 in P9, a brilliant effort for the British driver in his first-ever minutes of Formula 1 competition.

Q2 was Red Flagged momentarily as Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas lost power on his first run.

The German was able to find his way to an escape road, seeing the session restarting just a few minutes later. 

Bearman led the train of cars out of the pitlane, later aborting his first run after locking up and understeering in the middle sector of the lap.

He returned to the pits, swapping out the now scrubbed C4 for a new set.

On his final run, Bearman’s first sector was not his best.

The #38 understeered through Turn 22, leading to Bearman picking up the eleventh-fastest time for the session, and ultimately being knocked out in Q2.

His fastest time was a 1:28.642s, an incredibly close 0.036 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton in P10 which was bittersweet for his first F1 qualifying session.

“It was so close, so close, that’s why it hurts a bit more,” Bearman said after qualifying.

The super-sub was also under investigation regarding the maximum delta time, after supposedly driving too slow, however, he was cleared of any rule breaks.  

“Now I’m ready to make the most of this opportunity tomorrow,” the 18-year-old said. 

“I will focus on bringing the car home, although points would be nice. 

“But it’s my first race on a really difficult track, so I can’t expect too much.”

Oliver Bearman during qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

The British driver’s temporary teammate had a lot of praise to offer, with Charles Leclerc commending Bearman’s impressive efforts.

“Congratulations to Ollie, who is extremely talented and he showed it today on his first Formula 1 qualifying,” Leclerc said. 

“He’s done a lot of sim work which makes me happy to see that the prep he did back at the factory paid off as he was well prepared and extremely impressive today. 

“I think between the two of us, we can bring home plenty of points tomorrow.” 

Vasseur was also happy with the performance of the Reserve Driver, saying he was “so pleased” with Bearman’s P11.

“It was not an easy day for him, jumping in the car at the last minute, as I only told him on the phone three hours before FP3,” Vasseur said.

“Managing to get to Q2, not far from making it to Q3 and on what is a very difficult track is pretty impressive. 

“Even though he had so many things to manage he was not particularly nervous and it was an unforgettable experience for him. 

“In FP3 we focused on doing pit stops and also worked on the starts, two aspects that will be important for him tomorrow.  

“Let’s see what he can achieve.”

Bearman will become the 97th Grand Prix starter for Ferrari as he lines up alongside Alex Albon for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM, AEST.

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