Despite unfortunate circumstances, Oliver Bearman showed racing prowess in his F1 debut.
This past weekend, the 18-year-old Oliver Bearman was supposed to be racing at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia as a Formula 2 driver. However, in an unfortunate and dramatic twist on Friday that saw Carlos Sainz requiring an appendectomy, Bearman was required to step up to the plate as Scuderia Ferrari’s reserve driver, making him the 97th driver to pilot a Ferrari in a F1 Grand Prix.
With intense pressure on Bearman and little time to prepare for his Formula 1 debut, anticipation among Scuderia Ferrari fans built high to see how well he’d perform, and he did not disappoint. With a seventh-place finish, Bearman amazingly put points on the board for himself and Scuderia Ferrari at the end of the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, being the 61st Ferrari driver to do so. With Charles Leclerc finishing on the podium in third place, Scuderia Ferrari currently sits in second place among the teams this season.
Following his appendectomy on Friday afternoon, Carlos Sainz felt well enough to return and watch the race, which was undoubtedly exciting as the 18-year-old Bearman and 26-year-old Leclerc, the youngest-ever pair of drivers in F1, managed to finish incredibly strong at the Grand Prix despite it being an even more strenuous challenge than usual.
With the wind in its sails following Leclerc’s strong performance and Bearman’s dramatic rising to the occasion in Saudi Arabia, Scuderia Ferrari looks forward to returning to the track in Melbourne, with the first free practice sessions starting March 22.
