Oliver Bearman pleased with his F1 debut

Oliver Bearman made his Formula 1 debut during the FP1 session in Mexico driving Kevin Magnussen’s Haas. As a member of the Ferrari Academy, the agreements between Haas and Scuderia allowed Bearman to participate in this testing session. The FIA requires each team to field a rookie driver in at least one testing session during the season.

For his participation in the FP1 of Mexico, the driver from the Ferrari program achieved the 15th best time, with a lap time of 1:21.313, placing himself three tenths behind Hülkenberg’s car. Having this experience for the first time, being on track with all the other guys, was super cool, exclaimed the 18-year-old Englishman. I quickly gained confidence in the car and pushed it to the limit. Overall, it was a good session. We followed our program and achieved everything we wanted. As for my own performance, I was quite satisfied with my execution. Overall, it was a really positive session. When the session ended, I was a bit sad. I said it was the fastest period of my life. Unfortunately, it ended so quickly and I would have liked to be in the car all weekend, but obviously, that was not possible. It was good to please the team.

A specific pre-race training

Before being able to participate in the session, the British driver revealed that he had received special training imposed by the Haas director, Günther Steiner. Bearman had to extricate himself from the single-seater in less than five seconds. “It was nice to finally get into the Haas,” he said. “I think it suits me. Getting out of the car is always a bit stressful, you have to do it within a certain timeframe, and I’m quite tall so everything is a bit more difficult. But we managed to do it, and that’s always a good thing, it relieved some nervousness.”

Currently, the driver is in 6th place in Formula 2 in his first season. In 2023, the British driver triumphed three times in races. He will take the wheel for Haas in Abu Dhabi, this time in Hülkenberg’s car.