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Oliver Bearman marked himself out as a star of the future in Formula 1 on his last-minute debut for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“Ollie has done an incredible job,” said Ferrari team leader Charles Leclerc, after the 18-year-old Briton qualified 11th, which made him the youngest ever British F1 driver, and the third youngest in history.
“What he has done has been very, very impressive,” said world champion Max Verstappen.
Bearman went to bed on Thursday night expecting to be racing in Formula 2 in Jeddah, after taking pole position for that event.
Then he was told on Friday morning that he would be driving a Ferrari in the grand prix instead.
Bearman found out only a couple of hours before final practice. Yet once in the car, he immediately impressed – he was soon lapping just 0.3 seconds adrift of team leader Charles Leclerc.
In the end, qualifying did not go quite to plan. After a strong start, Bearman admitted his session became a bit “messy”.
In second qualifying, on his final lap, he hit the wall a glancing blow on entry to the high-speed Turn 21 and 22 chicane. That meant he had to try again, when the tyres were less than optimum. He ended up 0.53secs off Leclerc, and missed out on a place in the top 10 shootout by just 0.036secs.