Lots of pain for Bearman after F1 debut: 'It's so tough'

Oliver Bearman replaced Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Of course, there are many differences between F1 and F2. Besides the speed of the cars, G-forces and race length also play a big role. Something Bearman found out during the race weekend.

The following day, as he sat at the breakfast table with his colleagues from Prema, one thing struck them: how stiff he was. The average G-force of an F1 car is about 5G. When you factor in that it was Bearman's first real time in the car, that the race lasted about an hour and a half, and that he also had to complete 50 laps around one of the most difficult circuits on the calendar, you can imagine what that does to an F1 debutant.

In the end, there were even dents in Bearman's headrest. Despite this, most of the pain was not in his neck, he told The Times: "Most of the pain was from my lower back. The neck is a given, but Jeddah is one of the most difficult tracks. Even the straights, they twist quite a bit, which doesn’t look much, but when you repeat it 50 times, there’s no rest." The Briton's height of 1.87 metres doesn't help either: "F1 cars are very tight and not built for comfort. Everything was very last minute. When I made the seat, I didn’t think I’d be having to use it."

'Formula 2 less physically demanding'

The differences between the two classes also surprised Bearman: "We don’t have as much downforce or G-force in F2, so the strain is much less. But we don’t have power steering in F2, so the steering work is super-heavy. When I’ve finished an F2 race, my arms are usually tired, but apart from that I’m fine. In F1, the steering is very light, but it’s everything else. You’re just getting thrown around. Muscles you don’t feel like you’re engaging, they’re aching the next day," Bearman said.

So the 18-year-old Briton guessed how tough it would end up being, and also regarding how much water and weight you lose: "It’s exhausting; you lose a lot of water, I couldn’t believe how sweaty I was. It was a big challenge. But I really enjoyed it."