Lewis Hamilton provided yet another reminder of his class with the Mercedes driver the first to congratulate Oliver Bearman on his brilliant debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday night. As 18-year-old British stand-in Bearman got out of his car after finishing seventh for Ferrari, his countryman Hamilton was waiting to say well done.
Bearman stepped in for Carlos Sainz, who was absent to undergo surgery on appendicitis, at the last minute on Friday. He only got behind the wheel in FP3 after missing the first two practice sessions and became the youngest Briton ever to race in Formula One and qualified 11th for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
And the rookie became the 68th driver of all time to score points on his F1 debut with a magnificent P7 in Jeddah. The teenager was voted the driver of the day for his accomplished drive.
Hamilton, despite ending ninth for Mercedes, gave Bearman a round of applause and gave his compatriot a thumbs-up as he drove past on his cooldown lap.
The seven-time world champion also waited to congratulate Bearman immediately after he got out of the Ferrari cockpit in parc ferme. His Silver Arrows team-mate George Russell was also on hand to toast Bearman’s display.
Charles Leclerc finished third in the other Ferrari and said of the teenager: “He completely deserves it. He’s done an incredible job. Already from FP3 he was straight on the pace. In qualifying he did a great job and missed Q3 by so little.
“Today he’s been incredible. Seventh in your first race in F1 having only done FP3 in a new car is hugely impressive and I’m sure he’s extremely proud. Everybody has noticed how talented he is and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before he’s in F1.”
While Bearman himself said: “It was a fantastic race. [I was] pushing all the way. I was shocked at how fast we were pushing, getting quicker every lap – that was incredible.
“Especially at the end when I had the two guys on softs bearing down on me, I couldn’t relax. I was always in my mirrors pushing flat out. But it was a really exciting and fun race. I think we managed it really well.
“I think I did my fastest lap on the last one. I decided to push and see what I could do. It was really fun and I felt good confidence – I was building through the race. Especially coming to the end of the hard stint when I kind of knew what the car was doing underneath me, I could really push.”
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