Vasseur: Jeddah ‘a step, not final target’ for Bearman

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur says Scuderia protégé Oliver Bearman should forget about the Italian outfit for now and focus instead on his F2 programme and upcoming FP1 commitments with Haas.

Bearman delivered a sensational performance last weekend in Saudi Arabia where he was called up at the last hour to substitute for the appendicitis-stricken Carlos Sainz.

The 18-year-old’s baptism of fire in F1 yielded a highly impressive seventh-place finish on merit in the race at Jeddah.

Bearman’s performance proved that the young gun is undeniably worthy of a full-time seat in Formula 1.

Asked if the young rookie, as a Brit, could follow in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton in the future, Vasseur pushed back on that prospect, insisting it's way too early, given that the Scuderia is fully booked for the upcoming seasons, with Charles Leclerc recently extending his contract with Ferrari and Hamilton moving to Maranello in 2025 on a multi-year deal.

• Read also: Komatsu praises Bearman, but cautions on F1 future with Haas

“Don't start to speak about after Lewis Hamilton, Lewis is still not in the team!” Vasseur reacted. “But it's a good signal for Ollie for sure, it's an important milestone.

“In Melbourne and Imola he will be back on the F2 project, and the most important challenge for Ollie will be this one.

“He will start soon the FP1 sessions with Haas, and this will be important also for us to give him experience and mileage in the car. But for sure with this one [Jeddah] he has the result in the pocket already.”

Bearman’s extensive FP1 programme with Haas will include outings later this year at Imola, Barcelona, Silverstone, Hungary, Mexico City and Abu Dhabi.

The healthy schedule will only help the Ferrari junior bolster his F1 experience.

“You have to consider Jeddah is a step, not the final target,” Vasseur said. “He did well this weekend, but he will have other challenges in front of him in the future with F2.

“He will do a couple of FP1s with us and Haas during the season and all of you, including me, in six months' time we won't speak any more about Jeddah, we'll speak about Mexico, Brazil [sic], and if he's doing well or not.

“And every single day will be a new challenge. But for sure, if he's keeping the same approach as today, it will go well.”

Bearman was Ferrari’s designated reserve driver in Saudi Arabia, a choice governed by logistical factors as the Briton was scheduled to be on site due to his F2 commitments.

For similar reasons, fellow reserves Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman – who are both committed to Ferrari’s Hypercar programme in the Word Endurance Championship – were rotated out of the team’s reserve driver schedule for Jeddah, as Vasseur explained.

“I took the decision in the winter because I found it a bit stupid last year to ask Antonio to do 22 or 24 races when he was doing in parallel the LMH programme,” said the Frenchman.

“The LMH is quite important for us – it's a huge challenge – and I don't want to ask Antonio or Shwartzman to travel with us and to do F1 the week after Qatar, and a race in between.

“It's why we decided when Ollie's with us, he will be the reserve, and when he's not with us, he'll be in the sim.”

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter