Oliver Bearman's eye-catching F1 debut

Jock Clear, the head of Ferrari's young driver program, has praised Oliver Bearman's F1 debut as a last-minute replacement for the team. During last weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the eighteen-year-old British driver took Carlos Sainz's seat due to appendicitis.

Bearman made waves by qualifying eleventh and finished seventh to earn points in his first grand prix, despite having only a few hours' notice and one hour of practice to be ready. "It was the best weekend Ollie could have had," Clear said on the F1 Nation podcast. You would have objected a little to the outcome if you had written the screenplay. Yes, let's be practical, you would have said.  Clear added: “I’ve often said about Oliver, he will get better and better the closer he gets to F1, because F1 recognises real intelligence, really thinking drivers – drivers that can think their way around situations really shine in F1.