Ollie Bearman believes he has proven all he can in his surprise Formula 1 debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and wants to use the momentum to keep impressing in Formula 2.
The Ferrari reserve driver was required as a late replacement for the unwell Carlos Sainz, and duly qualified 11th — within 0.04s of a Q3 spot — and then scored six points with seventh place in the race. Having targeted a top ten result and clean performance, Bearman says his attention will return to F2 and trying to play catch-up in the championship after having to withdraw from this weekend’s race.
“I don’t know what else I can do, because I don’t think I’ll be in Formula 1 for the rest of the year,” Bearman said. “That was my goal, to do a great showing this weekend. I think I did a decent job, so that is alright. That is all I can do, keep pushing in Formula 2 and cross my fingers.
“Of course, after getting pole in Formula 2 I was a bit disappointed not to be able to finish the weekend, but when an opportunity like this comes, you can’t not take it, so I am really happy to have gone for it and I think I did a good showing for myself.
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“Now the focus goes back to Formula 2 and it’ll be a tough championship from now on because I am two rounds behind everyone. Bahrain was a different story, but here I could’ve scored some good points. I’ve got more points in Formula 1 than I do in Formula 2 at this point, so I’ve got some more work to do.”
Bearman pulled a strong move on Yuki Tsunoda as he climbed into the points on Saturday and then had the pace to hold off Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton on alternate strategies, but says his machinery played a big part in beating the seven-time world champion, who congratulated him in parc ferme.
“We also had a faster car, so that helps,” he said. “The car was flying today, so that is obviously a big bonus, but I think we executed a clean race, no mistakes, and that is exactly what we were looking for so I am happy with my performance.
“[Hamilton] was basically pulling me out of the car because I was struggling. It was really physical, but in a race like this, one of the lowest degradation tracks of the season and one of the highest lateral G’s, you are pretty much doing 50 qualifying laps which is quite impressive.”
While he’s unsure if his performance has earned him a full-time F1 drive in 2025, Bearman says it has at least warranted a post-race reward.
“I have some debriefs with the team and I think I’ll have a nice, big dinner tonight and a big dessert. I think I earned that. It depends what time we finish because at the moment the debrief is scheduled to finish at midnight. Maybe it’ll be some junk food, a burger.”