With just one race in the premier class, Oliver Bearman has given a ray of hope to all Ferrari fans. The young Brit drove incredibly and courageously and he secured a P7 finish to show for it. This incredible result surely puts Bearman in the running for a drive for the Italian team sometime in the future. Some might even believe he will be leading Ferrari into its glory for years to come. However, the Italian team already has crown prince Charles Leclerc shouldering the hopes of all Tifosi to end their championship drought.

Despite signs of individual brilliance, Leclerc has not made an impact on the championship front since his arrival. He hasn’t had a whiff of the championship since he joined Ferrari, mainly because of the lack of tools available to him. However, if we assume both Bearman and Leclerc are doing the best they can with the cards they’ve been dealt, can we predict who is a better driver based on their career stats? Let’s have a look.

Career stats: Charles Leclerc

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Charles Leclerc is a supremely talent individual. Some believe he will be the team leader even after the current campaign despite the teammate change. However, thanks to a subpar car, his talents have not been on full display in every race. We have seen glimpses of it. However, to win a championship, he needs to be performing at the highest level week in and week out. Regardless of the shortcomings, let’s look at his overall career stats, powered by Motorsportstats.com.

In his seven years with the circus, the 26-year-old Monegasque has won 5 races in 125 starts so far and secured a podium finish on 31 occasions. Known as the king of Saturdays in 2022, the Monegasque has proved it with his 23 poles so far. Leclerc has also secured 8 fastest laps with the latest in Jeddah. He’s scored a total of 1102 points in his F1 career so far with 20 retirements.

As we all know, Leclerc has not won a Formula 1 championship yet. However, the Monegasque has finished runner-up, which he did in 2022, Ferrari’s best chance since Leclerc’s admission.

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An honorary mention on Leclerc’s CV can be the 2022 Australian GP was a grand slam where he secured the pole position and the fastest lap and won the race after leading every lap. Now that we have Leclerc’s stats in front of us, let’s draw a comparison with Bearman’s performance.

Career stats: Oliver Bearman

Bear in mind that the young Brit has yet to live up to his potential and is only 18 with his racing career still in the early stages. However, let’s see how these early-stage stats compare to that of a Formula 1 driver. Seeing how Bearman has yet to race in F2 after committing to the feeder series for 2024, we will highlight his 2023 stats from F3.

The 18-year-old won 1 race in 18 starts during his time in F3 with Prema Racing. He also finished the race in the top three 8 times in those 18 races. However, Bearman could not secure a pole position in the entire season. The one time he did, in his first race in F2, he traded for a drive in F1. In his 18 starts in F3, Bearman also grabbed one fastest lap and amassed 132 points throughout the season with zero retirements.

In terms of best championship position, the young Brit finished 3 in the 2023 season. A 3d place in the championship is by no means a small feat, however, now the expectations would be higher.

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Although in all honesty, the youngster does boast an impressive output. However, we cannot compare the two because of various third-party factors like the level of competition, the capabilities and reliability of the car, and points lost stemming from team errors.

That said, we believe Bearman is a talent worthy of a shot in the premier class and we might just see him on the grid in the upcoming season. On the other hand, Leclerc will have the 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, as his teammate and a reference point. From the Brit, Leclerc can gain valuable advice that can propel him to be the no. 1 at Ferrari for years to come.