Charles Leclerc is predicting a bright F1 future Haas charger Ollie Bearman, but the Monegasque has a word of advice for his young Ferrari colleague.
Bearman will graduate to Formula 1 next season with Haas after serving his apprenticeship with the Ferrari Driver Academy.
However, the Briton’s remarkable F1 debut with the Scuderia earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, where he replaced an unwell Carlos Sainz at the last hour and scored an impressive seventh-place finish, was instrumental in convincing both Ferrari and Haas to promote the 19-year-old young gun to the big league.
Bearman’s trajectory is reminiscent of another Leclerc’s own path to the summit. Both drivers displayed exceptional talent from a young age, rapidly climbing the motorsport ladder and joining Ferrari customer teams to initiate their F1 career.
Like Leclerc before him, Bearman has impressed with his raw speed and maturity beyond his years.
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“I think he’s such an incredibly talented driver,” Leclerc told the media at Silverstone.
“I think what you need in your first year is always very specific to each driver, because it also depends on how much preparation you’ve had before getting there.
“I think Ollie’s very well prepared and he has shown that in Jeddah when he jumped in the car and was straightaway very, very strong.”
However, Leclerc is acutely aware of the pressures that come with a rapid ascent to F1.
“One typical [piece of] advice that I will give him is to not put himself under too much pressure. He’s still very, very young and the speed, he has it. He has showed it several times,” commented the six-time Grand Prix winner.
Bearman’s current F2 season with Prema has been a testing ground for the Briton, with his team enduring a difficult campaign. Despite these setbacks, Leclerc remains unwavering in his belief in Bearman’s talent.
“He’s not having an easy season as the team is struggling a little bit in Formula 2 – quite a lot, actually,” he added. “But he’s incredibly fast and I have no doubt that he will be super fast in Formula 1.
“He just needs to take his time, make the mistakes that he needs to in order to learn and to become a better driver and not put yourself under too much pressure, because that’s where sometimes you can perform a little bit less [than] your optimum potential.”
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