Who is Oliver Bearman: 18-Year-Old Driver For Ferrari In Saudi Arabia Grand Prix | Formula 1 News

Oliver Bearman, one of the biggest prospects in the world of Formula One, is all set to make his debut for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Bearman, who was supposed to take part in F2 for Prema Racing, will replace Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard was ruled out of the weekend with appendicitis. As a result, Bearman will become the youngest driver after Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll to take part in a Formula One race. Bearman has already proved his mettle at the Saudi Arabia race circuit by taking pole position in the F2 race and his first challenge for Ferrari will come at the qualification race on Friday.

Bearman was born in Essex, England in 2005 and began karting in 2012. He was extremely successful at the karting level and ended up winning multiple championships before making his F4 debut in 2020.

He ended the German regional series at seventh with one victory and he won another race in the Italian series that year. He came stronger in 2021 and ended up winning both titles.

Welcoming the 776th @F1 driver to the grid, @OllieBearman!

Ollie becomes the 97th driver to race in F1 for @Ferrari, using the number 38#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/VmubDGNDbf

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 8, 2024

It was his performance that caught the eye of Ferrari who offered him a position in their driver academy and in his maiden season in Formula 3, he narrowly missed out on the title and finished third.

He progressed to Formula 2 in 2023 where he won four races and had two more podium finishes to finish sixth in the Driver’s standings. He also made his F1 weekend debut with Haas at the Mexico City Grand Prix during a practice session and drove once again during practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Bearman was rewarded for his performances as Ferrari promoted him to reserve driver ahead of the 2024 season and the youngster is all set to become the youngest driver in the history of the F1 giant.