Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc Blown Away by Oliver Bearman’s “Incredible” Jeddah Qualifying Effort

Most drivers can only dream of driving at the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula 1. Those who do manage to break through then manifest driving for top teams, especially Ferrari because everyone’s a fan, right? Imagine checking both these boxes in one go and that’s exactly what Oliver Bearman has done. Not only that, the Brit has impressed his teammate for the weekend Charles Leclerc, and also received praise from Lewis Hamilton.

As we all know, Bearman received the golden ticket at the expense of Carlos Sainz suffering from appendicitis. We’re not sure for how long the Spaniard is sidelined but if he has to sit out the Australian GP as well, his car is in capable hands. The results might not speak it yet, even though the youngest driver in Ferrari history missed out on Q3 by 0.036 seconds, but he has impressed many. A mega effort in qualifying from the youngster now has the crowd on his side, including Charles Leclerc.

During the post-qualifying press conference, when asked to comment on Bearman, Leclerc said, “I mean, first of all, I hope Carlos will recover quickly. And then on Ollie’s side, I mean, he’s done an incredible job, obviously, with only one session in FP3. He was straight up to speed and comfortable with the car. So it’s good. I’m happy for him, obviously. It’s a very special day and the first race in Ferrari having done only one session I guess is even more so special, so I hope that tomorrow we can have a great race both of us, and score good points for the team.”

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It will be interesting to see how he fares during the race which is a different beast to tackle. However, with no weight of expectations and nothing to lose, we’re excited to see if the 18-year-old can surprise us. If not, he’s already earned the plaudits from everyone, including Lewis Hamilton.

Oliver Bearman’s effort in the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying impressed Lewis Hamilton

Still suffering with his Mercedes W15, Lewis Hamilton had a sub-par qualifying session in Jeddah. He was almost knocked out of Q2 but survived the scare. The difference between a Q2 exit and a Q3 entry? Just 0.036 seconds! If the number sounds similar, it’s because it’s the same gap with which Bearman was knocked out.

That’s right, the person in front of the 18-year-old was Hamilton and he was almost knocked out of Q3 by Bearman. This earned him Hamilton’s respect. The Brit was especially impressed with the teenager’s output because of his limited time with his car for the weekend.

“He nearly took me out! He did such a great job,” said Hamilton. “To jump in for FP3 without any practice and deliver like he has… mega, mega. Really impressed and it shows just what a talent he is. Also, the car looks really good and he has obviously got confidence straight away.”

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Starting in 11th place, a lot of people will be keeping a close eye on Bearman’s race as he can put his name in the mix for the 2025 silly season. Let’s wish the Brit the best for the upcoming race and his first in F1.