Who is the young British star making his F1 debut for Ferrari in Jeddah?

Oliver Bearman will replace Carlos Sainz for the rest of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend. The British driver will, therefore, make his official Formula 1 debut, and he gets to do it in a Ferrari. Last weekend in Bahrain, GPblog sat down to speak to the junior. He had already made it clear he was prepared for a situation like this to unfold.

How important for you do you think this year is to achieve that F1 dream?

So far, this is the most important year of my career. Hopefully, it won't be forever because every year gets more important pretty much. So far, this is the year that can put me in F1. There's a lot of pressure but also a lot of motivation. It feels like it's finally achievable. I can do it. That's a nice feeling. It’s pressure. I feel like there are a lot more eyes on me and eyes on this year in general because it's a big year in F2. But once the visor's down, it doesn't really change anything. Of course, the pressure is on, but I put this pressure on myself anyway. I demand a high level of performance from myself, so it doesn't really affect how I see weekends. We're only just getting started. Let's see. Maybe it'll get a bit more difficult later. This is a really important year for me. A lot of people as well. But it's nice that it's kind of within touching distance. This is the year I can make the difference and make the step to F1. 

What do you hope to learn this year? 

It's nice to stay and do another year in the same category. Last time I did that in F4, I won the championship. So, hopefully, touch wood, it's a good sign of things to come. Like I said before, I know what I want. This whole thing is something that you get from doing another year in the same category. When I jumped to F3, I didn't really know and I was kind of learning on the job. When I jumped to F2, it was the same thing. Whereas when I did my second year in F4, I knew exactly what I wanted from the team, from the personnel, and from the car. I feel like I can do that again now in F2. 

And what else do you do to prepare for maybe F1 next year?

Step one is driving F1. I'm going to be doing a lot of that this year. Not only in FPs, but hopefully also in private testing. It's really important to be ready once the opportunity comes. It could even come earlier since I'm in reserve this year. Anything could happen. So I need to be ready at all times. So, this testing and driving is going to help me. I feel like every time I get into the car, I get up to speed faster. I get confidence more quickly. That's obviously a good sign and a good sign that I'm learning. It's been really useful physically as well. I keep improving, especially my upper body, neck. I've been pushing a lot to make sure I'm ready. Even the regulars, places like Qatar, they struggle. So I think if I got the call there, I need to work hard. 

Singapore is a good one as well. 

Exactly. That's going to be a tough one. So, it's stuff like that. I would love to get the opportunity. My main focus is F2. And if I get the call, I want to make sure I'm ready.

Last year you did two FP1 outings for Haas. Of course, they are obliged to do two tests with a rookie. How much of a confidence boost is it that they've given you the opportunity to do six? 

Yeah, it's really, really nice, especially with everything that happened with the change of team principal. I was happy that we managed to do that. I was quite happy that they were also proud of my work. They seem pretty complimentary, let's say. So that's a good sign. They obviously have shown faith in me by giving me six FP1s. That's a nice feeling. I’m looking forward to building up confidence and a relationship with the team because it's a great bunch of guys. I feel like I know them really well now. So it's good.

And you talk about private testing as well. Will it be in a Ferrari? Will it be in a Haas?

Mostly in a Ferrari. I don't think Haas is doing any of that. My running with Haas will be in FPs. My testing will be in a Ferrari.

In a 2022 car?

Yeah. Now it's more useful even for the team because it's the same generation of car. So they can even learn some stuff. On top of me learning a lot. 

You already drove the car in Barcelona...

Yeah, so we did the first test in Barcelona in January. So before I did F2, before the first test and everything, it was nice to get up to speed again in an F1. Learn a new car because the 2022 is quite different to the other F1s I've driven. The 2023 Haas and the 2021 Ferrari. The 2022 was an awesome car. I really enjoyed it. It's perfect for a track like Barcelona. The test was really positive. I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot as well. Every test I do, I feel like I keep increasing my experience massively. So it's really positive in that respect too.

It's also in some way needed to have that preparation before you go into F1, right? 

More recently, people like Oscar have shown that having preparation in an F1 car, and having a lot of miles is really important. You're going up against guys who've been in the sport for, I mean, people like Alonso. He could be my dad. I wasn't even born. He's been in F1 for a while. There's no replacement for experience. But testing is really important to make sure you're as ready as you can be. You'll never be as ready as some of the guys, but being as well-prepared as possible is the main goal.  

Timing is everything, could've been you on the sidelines this year if you had won F2

Maybe I did it on purpose [laughs]. No. That's a nice feeling. A change around year, let's say. They happen every once in a while. And that's good that I've timed everything like that. I just need to perform in F2 make it impossible to not get me into F1. I need to perform well enough that they don't have a choice. 

And last one. How has Ferrari helped you in all of this, in all of your progress to where you are now? And also, what is their help in terms of getting you, helping you get into F1? 

Starting off, joining the Academy, building a relationship with the engineers and starting to work on the simulator. Then it transformed into the last year. Since the start of the year, I was doing a lot of days on the simulator, supporting the race team on events that I wasn't racing. Working on developing the car, just a normal sim driver. That meant that when I eventually got the call up to do the F1, before that I had to do my 300 kilometres in Fiorano. I felt like I was ready for that straight away due to all the simulator that I'd done. It was like jumping straight in. Nowadays they're so realistic that it was it was a perfect transition. This year, being a reserve driver for Ferrari is nice. All of this private testing should help me eventually when, when the call does come, to be fully prepared