F1 News: Oliver Bearman Reflects On Ferrari Debut - "Watched The Race Five Times Now"

It took five reruns of the race to satisfy Oliver Bearman about his performance in Jeddah.

Despite the Formula 1 community bowing down to the F1 debutant for his amazing P7 finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Oliver Bearman has been quite self-critical of his performance, having watched the Grand Prix five times already to identify errors that could have otherwise helped him gain positions during the race. 

Key Takeaways:

• Despite receiving accolades for his P7 finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Oliver Bearman remained self-critical, analyzing his performance by watching the race multiple times to identify potential errors.
• Bearman, who replaced Carlos Sainz due to appendicitis surgery, had minimal time to prepare mentally for his F1 debut.
• Despite setting records as the youngest Ferrari driver in Formula 1, Bearman scrutinized his performance multiple times, acknowledging his achievements given the challenging circumstances.

Bearman was hardly given enough time to prepare himself mentally for the F1 weekend. He replaced Carlos Sainz in Jeddah, who underwent surgery for appendicitis. 

Despite breaking several records, the 18-year-old revealed that he watched the race the same night before going to bed. With the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix being an evening race, Bearman reached his hotel room around 1am, only to watch the race and analyze his performance. Speaking to The Times in an interview, he said:

"The race finished about 10pm, you have about 1½ hours of media and then you’re into a debrief with the team.

"By the time I got back to the hotel, it was 1am, and by the time I got to sleep it was half two, because I had to watch the race. We had a flight at 11am, so I slept for five hours, which didn’t help because I needed some recovery. But I had to watch the race. I’ve watched it maybe five times now."

Ferrari Press Image

After a detailed analysis of his performance, Bearman concluded that he couldn't of asked for more considering the "circumstances". He added:

"The first time I was like, ‘Ah, I missed a bit of lap time there, I should have overtaken there.'

"But now I’m really happy with what I achieved. I don’t think I could have asked much more of myself, considering the circumstances.”

Keep up with the latest news on YouTube!