Ferrari apprentice Oliver Bearman earned himself a roaring acclaim from Formula 1’s top guns after his “impressive” display in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP.
Bearman was drafted in at the last hour on Friday by the Scuderia following the news that Carlos Sainz – who had been feeling under the weather on Thursday – had been diagnosed overnight with appendicitis.
Bearman, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, jumped into the Spaniard’s SF-24 and took to the track in FP3 for a 60-minuite preparation session ahead of qualifying.
Three hours later, the 18-year-old confidently powered his way to P11 in Q2, just missing the top-ten shootout by 0.036 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton seizing the final spot in Q3.
Poleman Max Verstappen was impressed by the Ferrari rookie’s display and had been attentive to his first laps onboard the SF-24 earlier in the day.
“It's super hard to jump in on a track like this,” Verstappen commented in the post-qualifying media session in Jeddah.
“And I think what he has done has been very impressive. I was watching his first few laps in FP3, because that's where you can judge if someone is a bit comfortable or not in the car.
©Ferrari
“And by lap two, lap three, I was like: 'Okay, that's a strong start'. I like to see that.
“To be P11, I think only at the time six tenths off pole [off Verstappen’s Q2 time], that is more than I think you could have asked from him.
“He's done an incredible job. And I hope he also enjoyed it a little bit out there because it's quite stressful when you come into a new team, basically a new car, and without any [F1] experience on this track.
“So, yeah, hopefully he's happy with himself. Also, not that he says, 'I didn't make it to Q3' or whatever, because I think everyone within the paddock has seen that he did a great job.”
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was equally impressed with Bearman’s skills.
“It was very impressive… [because] it's a place where you don't want to get the call to do your debut,” said the Mexican.
“Because it's one of the most challenging places, the one that you have to take the most risk, the one that you have to be the most confident with the car, with the balance,” Perez continued.
“So, yeah, big respect for what he has achieved. I think he has done a really strong job. It just shows how well prepared he is for the opportunity. So well done to him.”
Friday’s qualifying runner-up, Charles Leclerc, is obviously well acquainted with his new teammate for this weekend’s event, although he admitted that he hadn’t spoken much to Bearman ahead of his baptism of fire due to the Briton’s workload with Ferrari’s engineers ahead of FP3.
“It's definitely one of the most difficult tracks of the calendar for sure, being a street track and so fast as well,” Leclerc said. “But he handled it perfectly.
“We didn't have much time to speak. The only thing I've told him when he came this morning, I was like, 'Are you excited?' And he was like: 'I cannot wait'.
“I expected this answer, and it was good to see the excitement for him for his first race in Ferrari and again he's done a great job.”
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