In his column at Speedweek.com, Helmut Marko looks back on Oliver Bearman’s sensational Formula 1 debut at Ferrari in Jeddah. The eighteen-year-old Briton managed to cross the finish line in seventh place during the Grand Prix. Bearman also won his first points in Formula 1. Marko does have an idea for Frédéric Vasseur about what he would do with Bearman.
Bearman filled in for Carlos Sainz during the Saudi Grand Prix, who had suffered appendicitis and required hospital treatment. Before the Briton started the race, he had only trained for a few hours in Ferrari’s SF-24. Yet those few hours proved to be enough to gain points on behalf of the Italian racing team.
What to do with Bearman?
Bearman’s good result has not gone unnoticed by Marko. “I thought Ollie Bearman’s debut in the Ferrari was sensational,” the Austrian writes in his column. ‘To participate on such a circuit without much training is very courageous. At times he was almost at the same level as Charles Leclerc.’ With the Brit’s performance, Marko is now wondering what Ferrari should do.
From 2025, the Italian racing team will also have Lewis Hamilton driving for it in addition to Leclerc. Hamilton thus replaces Sainz at the team. But after the race in Jeddah it seems that Bearman’s future also needs to be considered. ‘If I were Vasseur I would immediately find an F1 seat for Bearman in another team, like Haas. They will now have to raise money for this. The teams are currently relatively financially saturated and will have to pay a lot for this.’
Promising up-and-coming talent
Marko is very pleased with the emerging talent within motorsport. ‘Bearman – but also our Liam Lawson from last season or Pedro Acosta’s debut in MotoGP yesterday – shows what truly exceptional talents are.’ According to Marko, this talent is not only due to good preparation. “Of course, today the boys are all well prepared when they move up, but only when someone is really good can they achieve such feats from the start.” Marko describes Bearman’s debut as ‘refreshing’. “We all want to see something like that,” the Austrian concludes.
