Marko: “Bearman like Pedro Acosta, but what does Ferrari do now?”

A problem for Vasseur

The appendicitis that affected Carlos Sainz gave a Oliver Bearman the opportunity to make his debut in F1 at the wheel of Ferrari, reconnecting the threads of history with 1972 when Arturo Merzario was and making his debut in the mass automotive formula at the wheel of a car from the Maranello Scuderia. Bearman was the third youngest driver in history to debut in F1 behind Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll in this special ranking and on a selective circuit like that of Jeddah he came close to reaching Q3 – 36 thousandths separated him from Lewis Hamilton – then finishing the race in seventh position ahead of his compatriots Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton (the latter, like a true gentleman, helped him out of the cockpit in Parc Fermé).

Oliver Bearman's work has not gone unnoticed and has gained recognition unanimous compliments. Max Verstappen followed his first laps in FP3 carefully and declared that Bearman convinced him already on the second lap. Lewis Hamilton, in addition to the compliments, on the one hand is gloating because what Bearman achieved is proof of the quality of the Ferrari SF-24 and Toto Wolff also spent important words for the 18 year old, also highlighting how high the level of F2 is (a consideration that is needed also to keep the prices of Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli high in the antechamber of F1).

Helmut Marko he even launched into a not indifferent comparison to express his admiration towards Oliver Bearman, but he also underlined that in some ways Frederic Vasseur now finds himself having to deal with a problem of abundance: “Oliver Bearman's debut with Ferrari was sensational – Marko's opinion in his new 'column' hosted by the site speedweek.com – in some situations he was almost on par with Charles Leclerc on a selective circuit like that of Jeddah. But now what does Ferrari do? They already have Hamilton and Leclerc, both on long-term contracts, and Bearman is a super talent. If I were in Vasseur I would immediately find a seat in Bearman in Haas for example. It's true that young people now arrive at their debut very well prepared, but it's only if you're really talented that you steal the show. For me Bearman impressed as much as Pedro Acosta in MotoGP. Seeing Pedro Acosta attack Marc Marquez was definitely refreshing as was watching Bearman's debut with Ferrari and these are the things people want to see.”