A dream first time
The Formula 1 debut of Ollie Bearman, called to Saudi Arabia by Ferrari to suddenly replace the very unfortunate Carlos Sainz – who had suffered from appendicitis – certainly did not go unnoticed. The Englishman, raised in the Ferrari Driver Academy, became the third youngest rookie in the history of the sport, behind only Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll. But it was above all the final result of his race that made an impression: the seventh place finishahead of rivals of the caliber of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, earned him the first world championship points of his career.
Certainly the fact of having debuted in a GP with the second most competitive car on the grid helped Bearman, but looking back at the recent history of Formula 1 it is It's hard to find many better debuts compared to that of the 18 year old Englishman. What remains imprinted in the collective memory is that of Jacques Villenenuve in 1996, who led the Australian GP for a long time and was ultimately second behind teammate Damon Hill, and obviously that of Lewis Hamiltonthird again in Melbourne after leading teammate Fernando Alonso for numerous laps.
The precedents of Magnussen and Nasr
From 2007 onwards, however, only two drivers were able to achieve a better result than Bearman in their first appearance in F1. One is still currently on the grid, Kevin Magnussen, who in the 2014 Australian GP – the first of the hybrid era – came second with McLaren behind Nico Rosberg. The Dane, who never managed to get on the podium again in his career, was actually third at the finish line but benefited from Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification.
The other name, probably forgotten by many, is that of Brazilian Felipe Nasr. Aided by a GP in which just 15 cars took part, the Sauber driver started tenth and finished fifth in the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, obtaining on the first try what would later remain the best result of his short career in Formula 1.
#Bearman #debut
