Ollie Bearman gives verdict on his Ferrari debut in F1 qualifying: "I'm not very satisfied"

Ollie Bearman gives verdict on his Ferrari debut in F1 qualifying: “I’m not very satisfied”. Oliver Bearman opens up on his Ferrari debut in F1 qualifying at the Jeddah circuit.

Ferrari Driver Academy member Oliver Bearman achieved an excellent result in the qualifying session for the 2024 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the young British talent narrowly missing the top 10 finish by a few milliseconds. Despite missing the top 10 by a hair, Oliver Bearman can still be satisfied with the performance shown in his first Formula 1 qualifying, with the young Ferrari talent starting from the eleventh position in the Saudi Arabian GP. An absolutely not easy result to achieve, considering that the Brit found himself suddenly thrown into the car without ever having tried the SF-24 before the final free practice session earlier today.

A Good Start for Ollie Bearman

After scoring an extraordinary pole position in Formula 2 the day before, the young Brit was quickly called up to replace Carlos Sainz, who had to withdraw due to appendicitis requiring immediate surgery.

“I woke up mentally preparing for my F2 race starting from pole, but then I was thrown into the mix with FP3 and qualifying,” commented the 18-year-old Ferrari driver at the end of qualifying in Jeddah – “The level of grip is just incredible. In Formula 2, you drive at the limit of the car, while in Formula 1, you drive at the limit of the driver.”

Despite the excellent performance, Ollie Bearman believed entry into the top 10 was possible, with Lewis Hamilton managing to save himself at the last moment by only 36 milliseconds: “At the moment, I’m not very satisfied.”

“I’m not very happy because I was close to Q3, but I pushed too hard and made some mistakes. The driver in me knows that the car was fast enough to be in Q3, but in a couple of days, I’ll look back and be proud of my efforts. The goal now? To get back into the points.” – he pointed out.

Oliver Bearman will have a chance to redeem himself in the race tomorrow, with Frederic Vasseur not wanting to put too much pressure on the young driver. However, scoring some points seems like a possible goal, with Charles Leclerc managing to qualify in the front row, and once again starting alongside Max Verstappen.