Ferrari F1's Future: get to know Oliver Bearman, rising talent of Ferrari Driver Academy

Oliver Bearman, born in 2005, is an English racing driver which is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He first got on a go-kart at the age of eight, where he showed his talent. One year later, he finished in the top 5 of the British Karting GP, also taking fourth place in the national championship. In the following seasons, Ollie won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix and became vice-champion among cadets. In 2019, he also won the World Cup in the Junior X30 class, followed by the European series and the world championship at Le Mans.

In 2020, he made his debut in a Formula 4 single-seater in both the Italian and German championships. In 2021, with Van Amersfoort Racing, he won both titles, achieving 17 victories (11 in Italy and 6 in Germany). Immediately after, ACI recommended him to the Ferrari Driver Academy for the Scouting Worlds Finals, in which he excelled, earning a spot in the FDA.

In 2022, the Englishman competed in the Formula 3 championship with the Italian team Prema, immediately standing out during the debut race in Bahrain. Throughout the year, he secured one victory, seven podiums, and a fastest lap, and at the end of the season, he finished his rookie season in third place overall due to a red flag being shown during the final laps of the Monza race, where he was making a comeback and was about to challenge the leader of the world championship, Victor Martins. In 2023, he completed the final step before Formula 1 by racing in Formula 2.

Oliver Bearman and his perfect weekend in Baku
Ollie, still just seventeen years old, had a perfect weekend in Baku. He became the first driver in Formula 2 history to finish every single session of the weekend in first place, and he did it on a track he had never raced on before except on simulators.

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He showed his strength from Friday, setting the fastest lap in practice and then in qualifying, where he managed to secure pole position for Sunday’s race with a damaged car due to a contact in the previous laps. Despite everything, the Englishman set a time of 1:52.652, beating more experienced drivers such as Enzo Fittipaldi and Theo Pourchaire, who finished 0.012 and 0.053 seconds behind him, respectively.

During the Saturday Sprint Race, we can say that he was very lucky to finish ahead of everyone, considering what happened during the restart from the Safety Car where six cars ended up crashing into the wall at turn 1 when there were only three laps left to the checkered flag. The Englishman emerged from that situation in second position behind his teammate Frederik Vesti, whom he then overtook with a splendid maneuver on the outside of turn 4 just a few moments before the race officials called the safety car out again, thus neutralizing the race until the finish and delivering the first category victory to an incredulous Ollie Bearman.

On Sunday, the FDA driver started from pole position on the track that winds through the city of Baku. Overtaken in the early laps by a very fast Theo Pourchaire, he then regained the lead of the race and held on to it for all the remaining laps. He then finished the race more than two seconds ahead of second-placed Enzo Fittipaldi and a full 20 seconds ahead of his teammate who arrived in fourth place under the checkered flag. However, it should be noted that Formula 2 single-seaters are not like F1 cars where there are different engine manufacturers and therefore different performance levels. The engine in the minor formulae is the same for everyone, and the substantial difference is made by the team, the setup, and especially the driver behind the wheel. Therefore, a two-second gap, on a complex circuit like the one in Azerbaijan, once again underlines the strength that Bearman had during this weekend, which allowed the Englishman to relaunch his championship campaign and move up to fourth place.

Currently, there are two FDA drivers in F2: Arthur Leclerc, brother of Ferrari driver Charles, and Oliver Bearman. After the perfect weekend displayed by Ollie, even Formula 1 wanted to celebrate him through a post on its social profiles, asking “Could he be the next Ferrari driver?”

Perhaps it is still too early to answer this question, but if the performances remain the same for the remaining races of the championship, anything is possible. We just have to continue to follow him along with his rivals during the next race, which will be at Imola on the weekend of May 19-21.