Back in February, no one could have thought Ferrari could outdo their signing of Lewis Hamilton. After all, they poached him from rivals Mercedes. However, with Sainz out due to appendicitis in Saudi Arabia, in came Oliver Bearman to fill and he impressed fans. With a seat for 2025 secured, Bearman continued his meteoric rise. However, this time around, something the young driver did set fans off.

While driving for the Haas F1 team during the Brazilian GP, Bearman’s outburst has turned into laughing stock for fans of Reddit in the off-season.

Oliver Bearman wasn’t originally scheduled to race for the Haas Formula 1 team at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. However, with Kevin Magnussen unable to recover from his illness, the young Ferrari prodigy was forced into action in his third F1 race of the season. Having made his debut for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, replacing Carlos Sainz Jr., the teenager once again had the opportunity to shine on the Formula 1 stage.

Starting the race on P15, the young Brit was looking to repeat his past performances. In his last two starts as a super sub for Haas and Ferrari, he was able to score points, finishing seventh and tenth. However, the weather in Sao Paulo turned foul, which made things sketchy for the teenager as well as other drivers on the grid. It was an intimidating experience for Bearman, who had never experienced racing at Interlagos in such adverse weather conditions.

The 19-year-old just wasn’t able to churn out clean laps and got tangled with drivers on the track. Zhou Guanyu and Franco Colapinto were the first two drivers who got caught up with Bearman. He was reprimanded with a 10-second penalty for his collision with Colapinto. He certainly felt out of place, and this was evident from his message to his team on the radio. “I can’t even see. Talk to the FIA. This is really dangerous. I’m not trying to die.”

Despite the constant bumps and brakes, Oliver Bearman was able to finish the race in P12, just outside the points positions. Although his reaction on the radio dates back to the race in Brazil, it’s once again doing rounds on Reddit. And let’s just say, fans weren’t sold on the complaints made by Bearman and claimed he was acting like a crybaby.

Fans react to Oliver Bearman’s struggles at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

A lot of race car drivers dream of competing at the Formula 1 stage, but only a handful of them are actually able to fulfill this dream. Moreover, there’s no scarcity of young, talented drivers looking to snatch a driver’s seat, which further makes the sport even more competitive. Although Bearman was able to showcase the flashes of his racecraft, his honest confession at Sao Paulo seemed to have sparked an outrage among the F1 community. “Give up your seat then, buddy. There’s plenty of other drivers who would be happy to do it.”

Now Formula 1 is among the richest sporting series across the globe. The top-tier drivers get paid in the range of $30-50 million, whereas the reserve or backup drivers can collect somewhere around half a million to $1 million annually. For the most part, fans tune in to watch some rip-roaring, side-by-side racing action, but the same can’t be said for everyone. Taking a jab at the young driver, a user on Reddit wrote, “Welcome to F1, you’re paid astronomical amounts and this is why. I wouldn’t watch if there was no risk at all, might as well watch golf then.”

Well, this sentiment was prevalent amongst a lot of fans who shared their views on Bearman’s radio message in Sao Paulo. It has to be noted that Bearman did admit that the race was a learning experience for him. “Every lap in the wet is really valuable and I managed to do a lot today, so I’m quite happy with that.” However, the fans weren’t convinced about his reflection on the race and made the most of his comments to his team on the radio. “It’s part of the job. Go slow or retire if you scared.”

It wasn’t just Oliver Bearman but almost the entire grid that struggled with the extremely wet conditions. Meanwhile, the Red Bull star Max Verstappen made the most of this chaos and clinched his first win since June. His effort was indeed heroic as he moved mountains in bagging an important victory, starting the race from P17. Making a direct comparison between the multi-championship winner and a rookie driver, a user wrote, “When I see this (and the one from Lawson) I can only admire Max’s skills and confidence more.”

Well, the comparisons didn’t stop there; we all know how skilled the likes of Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton are when it comes to racing in wet conditions. The British Grand Prix wins for Hamilton from 2008 to 2015 are still fresh in the memories of the race fans. Perhaps the best performance we’ve seen by a driver in the modern era. The only competition to the British GP win may be Ayrton Senna’s iconic drive-in Monaco in the wet. Remember, Senna drove in a time when manual gear shifters were used, long before the paddle shifters came into place. A fan emphasized this by saying, “This right here, is the difference between Ayrton Senna/Lewis Hamilton and an average Gen Z driver like this Oliver guy.”

Fortunately, Oliver Bearman will get his shot at redemption, driving full-time for the Haas F1 team in 2025.