(Motorsport-Total.com) – Oliver Bearman revealed that Formula 2 did not physically prepare him for the demands of Formula 1 – and this was before his debut at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Briton stepped in at short notice for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari after the Spaniard was sidelined due to an emergency appendectomy.
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Looking back on his impressive debut, where he scored points straight away with 7th place, Bearman explains that his “neck was already done” after driving a Formula 1 car for the first time: “My first lap in the third free practice was about twelve seconds faster than my pole lap in Formula 2 the day before,” Bearman says in a video on the official YouTube channel of Formula 1. “After my first run, my neck was completely finished. That’s why, to be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to the race. And it hurt.”
In response to the remark from his teammate Esteban Ocon that nothing prepares you for the strain a Formula 1 car puts on your neck, Bearman replies: “Exactly. Because Formula 2 was physically easy for me. The neck didn’t matter at all. And then suddenly I’m racing in Formula 1, and my neck was everything. That was a crazy step. But a great day, a great night.”
Bearman’s stint for Ferrari made him the youngest driver ever to race for the Maranello team. After 11th place in qualifying – missing Q3 by only 0.036 seconds – Bearman held off both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton in the final phase of the race and finished in 7th place.
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The now 21-year-old also explains that he couldn’t afford to be stressed in the situation, while his father nervously watched from the Ferrari garage: “I couldn’t be stressed at all. I was just busy trying to get my neck through somehow. That he could share this experience with me and was standing back in the garage… I think he was pretty nervous. But it was something very special to experience that day together,” says the Haas driver.
Bearman subsequently received a full-time seat at Haas and impressed in his rookie season 2025 with strong performances for the American team.
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