It’s a sporting story of which Formula One can be proud.
Of late, Formula One has dominated the sporting headlines for all the wrong reasons, from team dysfunction at Red Bull to accusations of FIA wrongdoing. To make matters worse, Max Verstappen’s sustained dominance means the gap between Red Bull and the rest of the field continues to be wide.
The sport clearly needs positive news, and it got it this past weekend when 18-year-old Ollie Bearman stepped in for Carlos Sainz (appendicitis) and participated in the Saudi Arabian GP.
To the surprise of just about everyone, Bearman placed a respectable 11th in qualifying. Moreover, his time in Q2 was less than half a second slower than teammate Charles LeClerc’s, and his Q2 performance was less than three-hundredths of a second from knocking 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton out of qualifying.
Bearman’s qualifying performance suddenly raised the race stakes: scoring World Championship points for Ferrari was now a realistic possibility, and Bearman delivered just that.
Bearman showed patience and composure to overtake slower cars in front and managed his first-ever F1 pit-stop. That was no easy feat because the Saudi racetrack is one of the most difficult to drive on the Formula One calendar due to its high-speed corners with no run-off areas. This means any small error will result in a crash into one of the many walls surrounding the circuit. Bearman comfortably avoided those walls, which cannot be said for far more experienced drivers, such as Lance Stroll.
Bearman would go on to finish 7th in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and, with it, score six World Championship points. He even held off the fast-charging Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages while keeping a calm head on his young shoulders.
There can be little doubt that Bearman has catapulted himself to the top of many teams’ lists of potential new drivers when they consider options for the 2025 season.
Moreover, Bearman’s performance is a welcome relief from multiple Formula One controversies. If an 18-year-old from Essex can turn heads as Bearman did over the weekend, there’s hope for the sport.
