He could have been any lanky teenager with A levels to sit, 6ft tall and still growing but not yet filling out his long frame.
But 18-year-old Oliver Bearman from Essex was faced with the investigation of a lifetime in front of millionaire superstars – who were brought in at the last minute to compete in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
And how he passed with flying colors. He beat Lewis Hamilton to finish seventh and the car racing legend’s ninth. And to think that Bearman was only 18 months old when Hamilton won the first of his titles for McLaren in 2008. He also beat McLaren’s Lando Norris in eighth place, another Brit of immense talent.
Bearman, a member of the Ferrari Academy who left his native Chelmsford and high school at the age of 16 for a different kind of education in Maranello, was never going to win in the desert for two reasons. Firstly, because Max Verstappen and Red Bull are the deadeye duo. The three-time world champion deservedly triumphed, claiming his 19th win in 20 races this young season and his last, with teammate Sergio Perez second.
The other reason, and we record this to his credit, was that Bearman had only taken part in Formula 1 practice twice prior to this weekend. He had never driven an F1 car under lights and only knew he was in the right place when Carlos Sainz went down with appendicitis.
Max Verstappen took a dominant victory at the Saudi Arabian GP to continue his perfect start to the season
Max Verstappen celebrates after the race with embattled Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and his wife Geri Halliwell
Oliver Bearman took points on his Formula 1 debut as he finished in seventh place for Ferrari
Bearman did a brilliant job when he came on for Carlos Sainz, who had to undergo surgery for appendicitis
That was on Friday before qualifying, where Bearman claimed 11th place on the grid. “No time for nerves,” he said in a discernible Italian tone, with a broad smile that never seemed to leave his face from that moment on.
So he left his duties in Formula 2, where he had claimed pole prior to his promotion, and suddenly there he was in the most recognizable car in the world. The red machine of Ascari, Lauda, Prost and Schuamcher. Heir to a myth written in the story of Italy.
He stood on the grid, a giant next to RB’s little Yuki Tsunoda, as the Saudi national anthem played. Mercedes’ George Russell gave him a friendly pat on the back as the line-up dispersed, perhaps recalling the emotions going through his mind when he made his debut in 2019.
However, that was for Williams and after a trial period of natural duration. This was in a Ferrari, and an emergency call at that.
Despite all odds, Bearman at least put on an outwardly relaxed face as he approached the biggest moment of his life.
His father, David, watched inscrutably from the Ferrari garage, with his headphones on, his arms crossed and his eyes glued to the screen.
Bearman’s breakaway wasn’t the most agile, but he managed to keep his place with an off-track detour into the first corner. Soon he was side by side with Tsunoda again, trying to pass him left and right.
On red tires – the softest and supposedly fastest and in a car intrinsically different from those around him – he had to strengthen his claims. And you can imagine what adrenaline did to his senses. But still he couldn’t find a way to push his way through the RB car in front of him.
Verstappen led at the start while Perez fought for second place with Leclerc’s Ferrari
Lance Stroll was in ninth place when he crashed out of the race in the opening laps
Hamilton stayed out after the subsequent safety car, but was overtaken by a number of drivers, including his teammate next season Leclerc
There was some cheering from the Ferrari pit wall. “I’m fine,” he was told. ‘We are faster than the cars in front of us.’
The race took on a new dimension when Lance Stroll pushed his Aston Martin into the barrier on lap seven. He smashed the wall and was a helpless missile. “Hit the wall,” he told his team. “Can you bring him back, Lance?” they asked. To which his response came: ‘No, I’m standing in the damn wall.’ Badinage over, the Canadian walked away well.
As the rubble was cleared, a safety car came out. At this point Bearman made a pit stop to move on to hard rubber.
A nice move from our boy wonder on the inside of the first corner took him past Tsunoda and put him on the tail of Zhou Guanyu’s Stake – the old Alfa Romeo/Sauber team before the absurd rebrand. He was back in 11th place.
He then passed Zhou. That got him into the points.
At the front, Norris, whose record as the youngest-ever British driver eclipsed Bearman, led the charge for McLaren. But he hadn’t stopped, and anyway Verstappen soon passed him to reclaim the number 1 spot he would always own. He galloped away from the front, with Perez in second, who also overtook Norris, as far in his rear-view mirrors as he needed.
Lando Norris and Hamilton both pitted late, but their alternative strategy didn’t work: they finished in eighth and ninth place
Anthony Joshua was a guest at Alpine for a day after his second round victory over Francis Ngannou
Bearman was now delayed by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. Lap after lap, Bearman followed him, trying to muscle his way through. He succeeded on lap 20 on the straight, but the German used his trick to use DRS to catch him back.
‘Slowly’ was Bearman’s assessment of the Haas. He was right. But a lap later he made the move he had just tried to hold this time and moved into ninth place, with Russell next on his hit list. However, the gap to the Mercedes man was 5.6 seconds, and the teenager was unable to make a dent in that margin in the middle of the race as the temperature remained as high as 25 degrees Celsius overnight.
“You’re doing a mega job out there,” race engineer Riccardo Adami told him.
He was, and when Hamilton and Norris came in for a late stop, he was in front of them both. There he stayed, in seventh heaven.
