“I woke up this morning thinking I was going to start tenth in Formula 2 because of the inverted grid and later I found out that Carlos was sick. Now I’m a little frustrated that I didn’t make it to Q3.but I guess I have to be satisfied with the result”. Oliver Bearmanof 18 years and the face of a teenager, will not forget this March 8. The Carlos Sainz’s appendicitis -operation included- opened the doors of the second car Ferrari in it Saudi Arabian Grand Prixon the second date of the season Formula 1. And the English rider, who is part of the Maranello team’s program for young drivers, was there. He had gotten the pole position in the opening category, F. 2, with 1m42s217/1000. In F. 1, of course, the story is very different. With that record, not only would he have finished last: he would not even have met the maximum qualifying score of 107%. He would not have had the right to start in the race this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Buenos Aires.
“The task ahead of Bearman is enormous. Even if he knows the track, he will have to be at least 14 seconds faster than in F. 2 on a six-kilometer circuit. It is an enormous challenge. You will feel like you are on a rocket”, said specialized journalist Will Buxton before the young man took to the track with the red car. The Englishman had no time to wonder anything. He just did a few practice laps, and then turned to try to achieve fast times and go from Q1 to Q2 and from this to Q3. In the first round, Bearman had no problems. He was among the 15 best, surpassing in almost those 14 seconds his best mark in Formula 2: he nailed 1m28s984/1000. Ninth place! In his first timed round in the Great Circus. Be the youngest driver in Ferrari history, and the third in Formula 1, he did not condition it. And the boy went to Q2.
The result of the classification test
In that second round he did have errors, a couple, that undermined his progression. He had to throw away a fast lap attempt and his best time placed him eleventh, just 36 thousandths from the last passage to Q3. That place belonged to a compatriot, Lewis Hamiltonof Mercedes. The present and the future of F. 1 went hand in hand on the time sheet. Bearman, encouraged by his father, David, from the Prancing Horse box, had to see the rest of the classification test by the monitors. When his track engineer spoke to the car over the radio, the young man managed to apologize!: “I apologize!”he stated.
This, despite the fact that, in the improvisation of the day and his age and the responsibility for a debutant, He was just half a second behind his teammate in that round, Charles Leclercwhich came second, and six tenths behind the almighty Red Bull of three-time champion Max Verstappen. And all, in a more than complicated circuit, street and very fast traffic, where the walls threaten with blows at every moment. “Ollie did an amazing job. He only had contact with the car in practice 3 and then qualified. “I am happy for him and I hope Carlos recovers quickly,” Leclerc praised him.
The Monegasque escorted Verstappen, who, in a different rhythm, seems to compete only against himself. “We tried something different in the first lap of Q3, but it didn’t go well. In the second we put everything. We are happy with the return. Maybe it’s not what we expected, but the race will be tomorrow. Compared to last year, we took a step forward, we are better in the race and we have to focus on ourselves to optimize everything,” said Leclerc.
The best of the Saudi Arabia GP qualifying test
Verstappen, for his part, was happy for his first pole position at the Jeddah circuit. He got it on the fourth attempt, since in previous years they had achieved them Sergio “Checo” Pérez (2022 and 2023) and Hamilton (2021). “This is a good day. We improved the car at night, especially in the fast corners,” said the Dutchman. And he added: “Trust is essential. Know how fast you can go. I am very happy with the first lap of Q3. “It is incredible how fast we can go here,” he celebrated. And about this Saturday’s competition, he foreshadowed: “In the past there were crazy races. It’s not that easy to make a single stop. But I am very confident that we have a great race pace.”
“Checo” Pérez also spoke. “We had an improvement on the final lap, but the front row was very possible,” lamented the Mexican, who will start third. “It will be a very interesting race, with a lot of action, very fun,” he added. It will be as long as someone manages to put up a fight against the huge favorite. His partner, Max Verstappen.
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