19 hours Ago By The Independent
As foolish as it sounds, Ollie Bearman ’s manager was actually cut off from the call which changed the life of his most precious client. Fortunately, the British teenager himself was not short of credit on his phone. Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last March, Ferrari suddenly needed a driver after Carlos Sainz fell ill.
Relaxing idyllically off the shores of the Red Sea fresh from securing pole position in F2, 18-year-old Bearman spotted Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur ’s name on his phone and, right then, knew he was about to be given the opportunity of a lifetime . In just about every sport, the fearlessness of youth is something which captivates the masses. F1 is no different and last year, Bearman proved just that.
The kid from Chelmsford, who left home at 16 after persuading his mother, Terri, that he wanted to pursue a far-fetched dream at Ferrari’s Driver Academy in Modena, has not just taken everything superbly in his stride. Instead, he has blown expectations out the water. But after the biggest 12-month whirlwind, is he actually in F1 earlier than expected? “Honestly, probably not,” Bearman tells The Independent .
Not arrogantly, but confidently. “I always saw this year as being the one. When I started in F3 in 2022, I knew I had three years to make F1 so 2025 was always my target.
Of course, I arrive here in unusual circumstances after last year. I realise I’m very fortunate to be in this position. But I’m ready to make the most of it.
” Bearman is speaking in the middle of his first pre-season test, as he starts his “dream” two-year contract with Ferrari-powered and American-owned team Haas in 2025. Our chat is delayed by a few minutes after an electrical outage at the Bahrain International Circuit, rendering all 10 teams powerless and in darkness. In F1, expect the unexpected.
Bearman, of course, knows all about this. F1 reserve drivers are very rarely handed an opportunity to deputise at a grand prix. Just ask the likes of Mick Schumacher and Felipe Drugovich, backups in the last two years who waited for a bus which never arrived .
But in 2024, the Briton experienced his slice of lady luck on three separate occasions. First, that March debut in Jeddah : a sumptuous drive on the sport’s most dangerous street circuit, finishing seventh in scarlet red ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris and becoming the third-youngest F1 driver ever to score points. Another stand-in appearance in September, this time for Haas’s suspended driver Kevin Magnussen in Azerbaijan, brought another terrific top-10 finish.
By then, his 2025 grid spot was secured, irrespective of an underwhelming (albeit heavily interrupted) second F2 campaign, where he finished 12th. His third F1 race, filling in for an unwell Magnussen in the Sao Paulo rain in November, brought the biggest lesson of his year: he crashed twice. Team boss Ayao Komatsu’s disgruntlement with his driver-in-waiting can be viewed in the new season of Drive to Survive on Netflix.
No matter. Onwards we turn to the 24-race 2025 season, which starts in Australia on Sunday . Bearman has been training hard for his full-time seat in the off-season, even cycling with three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar in the hilly surroundings of the French Riviera.
“Cycling with him has been a really good way of improving my physical strength and cardio,” Bearman says. “I’ve also been working hard on my neck, that’s a big step from F2 in terms of how difficult the car is on the neck. “It’s been more than what I’m used to but it's all about being able to cope with the demands of our sport.
You need to be on top of it.” Unsurprisingly, Bearman utters the tone of a man desperate not to let his chance slip. He recalls the first moment his dad, David, realised his eldest son had an instinct for pure racing in a go-kart.
Incidentally, Ollie’s 15-year-old brother Thomas is also a budding racer, competing in British F4 this year. “I was eight years old and still had my novice plates on, meaning I’d done less than five races,” Bearman reminisces. “It was at Buckmore Park in Kent and I was racing against a bunch of 13-year-olds.
“I just remember the pressure of having all those people around me on the grid, some of whom had raced in the British Championships. But I raced well and that was the defining moment when we realised..
. I had some speed and ability.” David, chief executive of insurance group Aventum, still had to sell items to fund his son’s karting career.
Yet Ollie’s stock quickly rose and when offered the opportunity to leave King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford to move to Italy, it was at least an obvious call for one parent. “My dad did not need persuading!” he says. “My Mum? Yes a little, especially when she found out that I wouldn’t be doing my A-levels.
“But dad and I persuaded her I had what it takes. And with racing and F1, you only get one shot. You don’t have second chances in this world and you can always go back to school.
But I haven’t needed to fall back on that yet...
hopefully you won’t see me in a classroom anytime soon.” It is a gamble which has paid off, despite initial struggles with homesickness and having “no friends”, not to mention a limited grasp of Italian. Three years on, Bearman is a Ferrari points-scorer and has one of 20 prized seats in the highest tier of world motorsport.
And all with an Italian twang. With a maturity beyond his 19 years, Bearman has a composed clarity of thought which can only be an asset in the cockpit this year, as he eyes top-10 finishes with Haas teammate Esteban Ocon. Certainly, more lucidity than his first driving test on the UK roads, which he failed after declining to stop at a stop sign.
“We don’t have stop signs on race tracks!” he pointed out last month. Thankfully, he passed the second time. However, on Bearman’s beloved racing tarmac, it is hard not to ruminate on the long-term future beyond his current contract: a deal likely to be around £250,000-£300,000-a-year, which expires at the same time as Hamilton’s £50m-a-year contract at Ferrari at the end of 2026.
Such is Bearman’s sparkling pedigree already with the team in Maranello, is he targeting Hamilton’s seat for 2027? “Of course, I have links with Ferrari and it’s easy for people to make that connection,” he says. “My ultimate goal is to have a very long career in F1. It’s my ultimate passion and I know how lucky I am to be in this situation.
I want to prove that I deserve it and, ultimately, I want to become a world champion. “But my future at the moment lies with Haas and my main goal now is to just drive fast and deliver great results. “And from there? Let’s see where that brings us.
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