Before embarking on his debut Formula 1 campaign, Australian Oscar Piastri accumulated valuable experience through private tests with Alpine. Although he eventually secured his Formula 1 opportunity with McLaren, it was the substantial outings with Alpine that familiarized him with the intricacies of Formula One single-seater.
For rookie drivers, testing opportunities are scarce due to Formula 1’s reduction in the number of test days, both in pre-season and throughout the season. However, a new regulation has been introduced to facilitate rookies in gaining experience, mandating two FP1 outings per team during the year.
This rule proved advantageous for Ferrari Driver Academy prospect Oliver Bearman, who underwent his first Formula 1 1 test with the Maranello team before making his debut in the first free practice session with Haas at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Despite concluding his maiden Formula 2 championship with notable success, Oliver Bearman acknowledges that Oscar Piastri’s extensive test program prior to his F1 debut played a crucial role in his prosperous rookie campaign.
“He showed that preparation is really important,” Oliver Bearman explained in a recent interview – “Once you join F1, you’re going up against guys with a lot of races under their belt. Coming in as a rookie is a difficult job. So it’s something that we’ve thought about.
“It will be really important that before I start an F1 campaign, I need to be really prepared. Hopefully that looks like more FP1s and maybe some private testing as well but I don’t have any say on that. But in an ideal world, that was that would be how I approach an F1 season.” – the Ferrari junior pointed out.
The testing regulations in Formula 1 specify that a single-seater must have been in use for at least two years before it is eligible for private outings.
Consequently, the present generation of cars, introduced as part of the 2022 regulations overhaul, will become available for testing next year. This presents Oliver Bearman with an unique chance to gain experience with contemporary machinery.
“I tested the 2021 [Ferrari] car, it’s still an F1 car, I think it’s even a little bit faster than the current generation. But the fact that from next year, you can use the 2022 cars will be really helpful because it’s the same generation of car and not much has changed since then. So that’s, that’s good to know. And hopefully we can make use of that.” – the Ferrari Driver Academy member concluded.
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