Back soon, Mum. I’m just off to drive a 230mph Grand Prix car
18-year-old from Essex in Ferrari is the youngest F1 Briton ever
FOR most mums, watching their teenage son take the wheel for the first time after passing his driving test is a rather nerveracking experience.
So spare a thought for the mother of 18-year-old Oliver Bearman – as this evening her son is set to become the youngest ever British driver to race in Formula One.
Not that Terri Bearman isn’t immensely proud of her son, who received a late call-up from Ferrari yesterday to race for the team at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
A whizz-kid behind the wheel, Oliver started motor racing as an eight-yearold in 2013, but he progressed from karts to cars four years ago when he competed in the German and Italian F4 championships.
His success at that level meant he joined the Ferrari Driver Academy at the end of 2021 and moved to Modena in northern Italy – though he had to convince his ‘pro-school’ mother first.
The 6ft 1in driver, who had attended King Edward VI Grammar School in his hometown of Chelmsford, Essex, told Mail Sport last year: ‘When I moved to Modena, it happened pretty
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quickly. It was like going to university two years early, but I have loved every moment so far. My mum was very pro-school and very pro-education, but we managed to convince her in the end.’
He added: ‘I miss my family and my dogs. I have an English bull terrier and a Boston terrier and they are very cute. That is the negative side. But the food in Italy is a big chunk above the English stuff, and the weather is better too.’
The rising star, who has developed an Italian twang since moving, said last year: ‘A lot of people have told me my accent has changed, even if I don’t notice it.’
Ms Bearman is clearly her son’s biggest fan, sharing snaps of his racing triumphs on social media along with family photos featuring Oliver’s father David, younger brother Thomas, who is also a kart racer, and sister Amelie. Known as Ollie, the young driver is reportedly in a relationship with TikTok star Estelle Ogilvy, who shares fashion tips and inspiration under the name Silly Lettuce. Ferrari will hope the romance doesn’t prove a distraction.
In a dramatic turn of events yesterday, the team announced he had been picked to replace Carlos Sainz, 29, who had to undergo surgery for appendicitis. Ferrari have not said when Sainz will return to the cockpit. Oliver, who will start 11th on the grid in his F1 debut in a car which can reach speeds of up to 230mph, replaces Lando Norris as the youngest British driver to start a Grand Prix.
Norris was 19 years, four months and four days old when he debuted for McLaren in 2019. Oliver, who turns 19 in May, will also become only the 12th British driver to compete for Ferrari and the first Englishman since Nigel Mansell in 1990.
He will join F1 legends Lewis Hamilton, who has won a joint record seven F1 World Drivers’ Championships, and Fernando Alonso on the track.
It is remarkable given that Oliver, whose childhood hero was the 2009 world champion Jenson Button, was just 18 months old when Lewis Hamilton made his F1 debut at the age of 22 in 2007.
A BRITISH teenager will today fulfil the dreams of millions by driving for Ferrari in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Oliver Bearman, an 18-year-old unknown from Essex, becomes the third youngest driver ever to compete in a Formula One race — behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll — after receiving a late call-up to the famous red car. Bearman had only a couple of hours’ notice that he would take the place of 29-year-old Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who was about to have his appendix removed. So Ferrari’s reserve driver stood in for the final practice session, before undergoing a severe test of character in qualifying around the lightning quick Jeddah track, where he secured a highlycreditable 11th place on the grid. ‘The stars have aligned,’ smiled Bearman yesterday. ‘It feels like such a quick progression from driving in F4 a few years ago. I only did my first F1 test a few months ago for Haas, so to make my F1 debut in red is hopefully a sign of things to come.’ Triple world champion Verstappen, who admitted he was impressed by the teenager’s performance, started in F1 aged 17.