Oliver Bearman admitted he was left feeling physically “destroyed” after his debut F1 race at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in which the rookie scored points by crossing the line in seventh place.
The teenager put in a confident performance at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, having stepped in at Ferrari with limited notice on Friday morning following Carlos Sainz’s diagnosis of appendicitis.
Bearman started from P11 on the grid but soon pulled off a series of overtakes, including moves on Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg.
As the race wore on, the 18-year-old faced pressure from the threat of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton behind on fresher tyres, but he ultimately held on to claim P7, handing him six points in his first Formula 1 race.
Asked afterwards how he was feeling, Bearman responded: “Destroyed. Physically it was a really difficult race! Especially in the end, when I had the two guys on soft behind me,
He admitted he had to basically push flat out and it was a mentally difficult race as expected, and physically struggling too, but he had great fun out there.
With the Briton currently competing in his second F2 campaign, he acknowledged that the performance shone a positive light on his skills.
“I think I put in a good showing for myself, which is the main thing right?” said Bearman. “It’s difficult circumstances, not a lot of laps on track, but I think I maximised everything today.
I felt like I was a bit quicker than [Fernando] Alonso and [George] Russell in front, but not enough to catch, the gap was pretty big.
