Ocon: Bearman ‘technically’ the best of all F1 rookies

Esteban Ocon has seen his share of F1 rookies during his career among motorsport’s elite, but the Frenchman describes his Haas teammate Oliver Bearman as “technically above” any newcomer he’s seen before in Formula 1.

Despite a DNF last time out in Miami, Bearman has made an impression early in his first full season.

After debuting with a P14 finish, he bagged points in three consecutive races – Bahrain, Japan and China – and currently trails only Andrea Kimi Antonelli among the rookie class in the standings.

With the head-to-head battle against Ocon split closely at 5–3 in the latter’s favour, Bearman is proving to be no pushover. And their combined tally of 20 points has helped steady Haas in sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

“Honestly, he’s been great, Ollie’s been amazing,” Ocon said in Miami, quoted by Motorsport Week.

“He’s a super quick driver, super talented, very professional, very detailed on the car set-up.

“I think that’s straight away the thing I saw; technically, he’s above any rookies that I’ve seen in the past.

“He’s much more prepared than I was when I arrived in F1 or than any of our generation, I would say.

“Honestly, I think he has a bright future in Formula 1 – that is very clear.”

Learning from the Sidelines

Bearman’s journey to this point included pivotal F1 cameos in 2024: stepping in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Saudi Arabia – and delivering a remarkable P7 finish in the process – and replacing Kevin Magnussen with Haas in Baku and Sao Paulo.

Those “experiences”, coupled with his reserve driver role, helped sharpen his technical insight.

Bearman credits his time with Ferrari – be it in testing or being behind-the-scenes as a reserve driver – for honing his feedback skills.

“Yeah, of course, I’ve had a lot of experiences over the years now with Ferrari, with my TPC running,” explained the Scuderia’s protégé.

“But also just being in the track as a reserve driver last year, listening to all of the debriefs and all of the comments from the drivers, how they articulate what they’re feeling has been quite useful for me.

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“Even being a bit behind the scenes on set-up meetings and stuff like that, understanding what direction they tend to take with the car based on limitations and stuff like that.

“I’ve been able to learn quite a lot, so that’s been useful.”

With Ocon’s endorsement and a bright future ahead, Bearman is proving he’s no ordinary rookie.

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