by F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth
BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- There is a moment in every young driver's career when the mythology of Formula 1 collides with reality. For Ollie Bearman, that moment arrived without warning during the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, when Ferrari's regular driver Carlos Sainz was laid low with appendicitis.
Bearman, a Ferrari Academy graduate who speaks fluent Italian, had been preparing for that weekend's Formula 2 race when he was handed an unexpected call from F1's most storied team, with almost no preparation and little time to process the scale of the opportunity.
"It was definitely crazy to get the late call and to have the pressure of driving," the 20-year-old Briton tells Xinhua in Shanghai, almost two years to the day since his debut. "I had a bit of imposter syndrome at the start, but after I did two or three laps I saw that I was more or less on the pace straight away. I remember every moment."
Bringing his new mount home seventh that weekend helped establish Bearman as an F1-ready driver rather than simply a promising junior. Yet the broader context of that season offered a more uncertain picture, as his 2024 F2 campaign with Prema failed to gain momentum, leaving him 12th in the standings, several places below teammate Kimi Antonelli.
At a time when both drivers were positioning themselves for a step into F1, Antonelli's trajectory to the Mercedes seat soon to be vacated by Lewis Hamilton appeared cleaner, while Bearman's path relied more heavily on moments of opportunity rather than sustained results.
Even he recognises how much depended on that unexpected Ferrari debut, which arrived during what he describes as a difficult period in his junior career.
"It was a really tough year for myself and my teammate in F2 that year, so I was very lucky to get the race," he says. "But I believe in fate a little bit. I think I'll always be a bit in debt to Carlos for that opportunity."
Two further substitute appearances for Haas later that year, stepping in for the indisposed Kevin Magnussen, helped reinforce the impression that Jeddah had not been a one-off but the beginning of something more substantial.
By 2025, Bearman had graduated to a full-time seat with Haas, although the opening phase of his rookie season exposed the typical growing pains of a young driver adapting to F1.
Difficult weekends at Silverstone, Budapest and Spa tested both his confidence and technical understanding, placing him in situations that demanded resilience rather than immediate results.
"The hard moments definitely taught me a lot," he says. "Those tough moments are really important and teach you more than the easy moments."
The second half of that season told a different story, as Bearman began to match and then outpace his experienced teammate Esteban Ocon, gradually establishing himself as the more consistent performer within the team.
That progress culminated in a head-turning performance in Mexico, where he found himself under sustained pressure from the sport's leading drivers while fighting for a result Haas rarely reaches.
"I had a lot of pressure from the championship contenders. It was Max [Verstappen], Oscar [Piastri], and George [Russell] pushing hard behind me," he recalls. "I was just loving it."
His fourth-place finish, equalling Haas's best ever result, set tongues wagging within the paddock, with some suggesting the Briton as a future Ferrari driver, especially with Hamilton having flattered to deceive in his first year with the Prancing Horse.
For now, those conversations remain firmly in the background, with Bearman and his representatives keen to keep the focus on Haas and the longer-term process of building competitiveness.
"With Haas, we're on a bit of a different journey," he says. "We've never been on the podium, we've never fought for a race win, so that's not really a realistic goal right now. But with the trajectory we're on, I think the possibility is definitely there."
That grounded outlook extends to his approach to the 2026 regulations, which have introduced a polarizing new driving style centred on energy management and deployment. Is it instinct, or calculation?
"Far from instinct," he says immediately. "It's definitely a new way of driving, and it feels far from natural. But that's the way to drive fast nowadays, and we just have to get used to it."
Bearman's phlegmatic manner disguises just how quickly he has adapted, with seventh- and fifth-place finishes leaving him an impressive fifth in the Drivers' Championship after the first two grands prix of 2026.
There is a directness to Bearman's character that reflects both his stage of development and the environment he operates within, where clarity and self-awareness are often more valuable than bold claims.
"When I'm outside the car I'm quite a nice person, smiley, good attitude," he says. "But when the visor goes down I flip a switch, and I'm a 'bear', let's say."
Now, with a full season behind him and momentum building, there is little doubt that Bearman belongs at this level. The question now is whether his current trajectory can take him to the very top. ■
