Oliver James Bearman (born 8 May 2005) is a British racing driver who is currently competing in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Prema Racing and is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He is a reserve driver for both Scuderia Ferrari and Haas F1 Team in Formula One. He made his Formula One debut with Scuderia Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, substituting for Carlos Sainz Jr.
He is the 2021 Italian and ADAC Formula 4 champion.
Personal life
Bearman was born on 8 May 2005 to David and Terri Bearman in Havering, London. He has a younger brother and sister. His father is the founder and chief executive officer of the insurance firm Aventum Group. Bearman grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, where he attended King Edward VI Grammar School. Bearman left school at the age of 16 to join the Ferrari Driver Academy in Modena, Italy.
Career
Karting career
Bearman started karting competitively in 2013, when he raced in the championship of the Trent Valley Kart Club. He then moved to compete in the Super 1 National Championships, where he managed a best finish of second in 2016 and 2017, driving in the Cadet category. He then won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix in 2017, and he finished his karting career off strongly in 2019 with victory in the IAME International Final, IAME Euro Series and IAME Winter Cup.
Lower formulas
2020
In 2020 Bearman made his single-seater debut in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship with US Racing, whilst also racing in three rounds of Italian F4. His campaign in the German series started off with regular points finishes in the first two rounds, before achieving his debut victory at the Hockenheimring. Bearman followed that up by scoring two further podiums, one at the Nürburgring and Oschersleben respectively, and finished seventh in the standings, ahead of fellow rookie teammate Vladislav Lomko, but behind top rookie and fellow teammate Tim Tramnitz. In his appearances in the Italian Championship, the Briton scored a total of two podiums, with one of them being a race win in Vallelunga, leading to him finishing tenth in the end results.
2021
For the 2021 season, Bearman switched to Van Amersfoort Racing to perform double duties in both the German and Italian F4 Championships. In the Italian series, the Brit would kick off his season with a third place at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Following another podium in the same round Bearman went on a podium and win streak, which would last for nine and seven races respectively. This included two victories in Misano, a hattrick of wins at the Vallelunga Circuit and two wins in Imola. However, a disqualification from the third Imola race for an engine irregularity meant that Bearman would lose his streak, having originally won the race. Undeterred, Bearman achieved his eighth win of the season at the following race at the Red Bull Ring, and followed it up with another podium in the second race. In the penultimate round of the season, Bearman won the title with a tenth place in the third race, putting the championship out of reach for his closest rival Tim Tramnitz.
In the German championship, Bearman claimed six victories and after a season-long battle with Tramnitz, claimed the title at the season finale at the Nürburgring, thus making him the first driver to achieve two successive Formula 4 titles in a single year.
In September 2021, as reward for his two F4 titles, Bearman was nominated for the Autosport BRDC Award. Additionally, in December 2021, Bearman was awarded the Henry Surtees Award for most outstanding performance by a BRDC rising star.
BRDC Formula 3 Championship
Along with his duties in Formula 4, Bearman raced in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with Fortec Motorsports, partnering Roberto Faria and Mikkel Grundtvig. He started his campaign off strongly, scoring two second-place finishes in the first two races at Brands Hatch. Having skipped the following three rounds in order to concentrate on his F4 campaign, Bearman came back at the Snetterton Circuit, where he would win the opening race, and he would follow that up by qualifying on pole for the first race at Silverstone. However, his chances of victory were slashed after losing his front left wheel on the second lap, which meant that a second place in Race 2 would be the highest finish of his weekend.
FIA Formula 3 Championship
On 31 October 2021 Bearman was announced to be participating in the post-season test of the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing, partnering Jak Crawford, Arthur Leclerc and Paul Aron. At the end of the year, Bearman was announced to be driving with Prema for the 2022 season alongside Crawford and Leclerc.
Bearman started his season by controlling the first race of the year in Bahrain, although, having crossed the finish line in first place, he was issued a penalty for multiple track limits breaches, which demoted him to second behind Isack Hadjar. A sixth place in the feature race was followed up by a disappointing event at Imola: there, having been denied a points finish in the first race due to a spin that had come as a direct result of teammate Leclerc pushing him onto the grass, Bearman was battling to remain in third place near the end of Sunday's feature race. On the final lap, the Brit caused a collision with Grégoire Saucy at the penultimate corner, which sent the Swiss driver out of the race and caused Bearman to be demoted from fourth to 17th after the race had finished. The next round would pan out more quietly, as a fifth place on Sunday became the Brit's best feature race result at the time.
Bearman would gain form in the subsequent three rounds, as he finished third in all three feature races: Silverstone, where he battled his compatriot Zak O'Sullivan to the line for second, Spielberg, where Bearman had kept his position from start to finish, and Budapest, having been denied second by a fraction of a second. At Spa-Francorchamps, the first event after the summer break, Bearman was able to fight his way to the front during the opening embers of the sprint race, having started from fifth, and took his first victory in the category despite a pair of Safety cars and a Red flag interruption interfering with his race. The following day, Bearman once again finished third in the feature race, having overtaken Oliver Goethe on the final lap. Misfortune followed in Zandvoort, as a red flag hampered Bearman's qualifying efforts, leaving the Brit 14th on the grid. During the feature race, a penalty for a collision with O'Sullivan meant that Bearman would not add to his points tally. Undeterred by his slim title chances going into the season finale at Monza, Bearman would finish second in the sprint race courtesy of a double-overtake on Jonny Edgar and Caio Collet into the first chicane. He continued his fight on Sunday, battling for the lead with Zane Maloney before a red flag would end the race prematurely, meaning that Bearman would finish third in the standings, a mere seven points behind champion Victor Martins. Despite being regretful of "all the races where [he] needlessly lost points", the Briton maintained that he was happy to finish third in the championship.
FIA Formula 2 Championship
2023
On 14 November 2022, Bearman was announced as a Prema Racing driver for the 2023 Formula 2 Championship, partnering Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti. Bearman started his season in Bahrain with 12th in qualifying, but could not salvage much in the sprint race, finishing P15. Taking advantage of lap 1 chaos in the feature race, Bearman rose to fourth early on. However, tyre degradation proved to be a factor as he was among the first to pit, and fell down the order late on for a disappointing 14th place. In Jeddah, the Briton broke his duck and qualified second having topped practice. However, his sprint race ended after Théo Pourchaire braked late and slammed into him, which ended both their races. In the feature race, Bearman battled with Victor Martins early on after seizing the lead at the start. However Bearman spun on his own later on, which dropped him down the order, and he subsequently lost more positions, ultimately finishing in tenth place.
Bearman ended sixth in qualifying at Melbourne, despite an early crash. In a sprint race where he battled many of his rivals, he secured seventh. However in the feature race, Bearman's race came undone when he tangled with Isack Hadjar in the pits, sustaining a puncture. He had to pit again and had a trip to the gravel later on, finishing 17th. The young Brit came back with a vengeance in the next round to claim his maiden F2 victory in the sprint race of the Azerbaijan race weekend. Bearman claimed pole position in Friday's qualifying session in dramatic circumstances, managing to set the fastest lap despite a shunt just minutes before the end of the session resulted in his steering wheel pointing slightly to the right. He started the race in 9th place on the reverse grid after Pourchaire took a grid place penalty.
After coming through the field, outpacing his rivals and setting multiple fastest laps, he took advantage of the chaotic circumstances of the race. In the closing stages of the sprint race, leaders Dennis Hauger, Victor Martins and Jehan Daruvala crashed out in turn 1 following a late safety car restart. After navigating around the pileup, Bearman capitalised on a mistake by teammate Vesti to take the lead before the race was neutralised once more. He became the second youngest race winner in Formula 2 history behind Théo Pourchaire. Bearman was congratulated in parc fermé by Scuderia Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur and sporting director Laurent Mekies before being joined on the podium by Vesti and Hitech Pulse-Eight driver Jak Crawford. The following day, the feature race, Bearman claimed victory and became the ninth driver in GP2 and Formula 2 history to do "the double" and only the fourth as a rookie.
He had a disappointing race weekend in Monaco: Bearman retired on lap 23 of the sprint race due to a suspension problem; in the feature race Oliver finished 11th despite even some overtakes and good strategy, he scored no points.
However, he retained his good form by scoring pole position in Barcelona for the feature race on Sunday. He claimed 7th place in the sprint race on Saturday, with teammate Vesti winning. In the feature race, he managed to stay ahead at the start and extended his first stint until Lap 14. He came out 3.5 seconds ahead of Carlin driver Enzo Fittipaldi who had qualified second, but the gap diminished to just half a second by the end of the lap due to his fresh tyres. He cleanly passed several cars who had yet to pit, and despite the much faster pace of Vesti and Martins on fresher tyres towards the end of the race, Bearman remained out of touch and claimed his 3rd race win of the season. This victory pushed Bearman up to 4th place in the drivers' standings with 70 points, 40 behind championship leader Vesti.
Bearman qualified a disappointing 19th for the Austrian round. In the sprint he started on dry tyres and moved into a high points scoring positions but his tyres wore out and he slipped to 9th at the flag but was promoted to 8th after Clément Novalak was disqualified for a tyre pressure infringement. For the feature race he went on the alternative strategy pitting on lap 27 before a safety car allowed him to charge up the order and finish 5th.
Bearman qualified 5th for his home race in Silverstone. In the sprint he moved up to second before spinning and dropping down to 5th but he moved back up to third by overtaking Isack Hadjar. He had a multi lap battle with Jack Doohan holding him off for third until he went off at the Vale Chicane dropping him to 6th where he finished at the flag. He finished the feature race in 8th ending a disappointing home weekend for the Bearman.
Bearman qualified 7th for the Hungary round. He finished the sprint in third after a late overtake on Theo Pourchaire. However the feature race was disappointing as he pitted early sipping out of the points and finishing 12th. He struck back with pole in Belgium, but that was the best the weekend got as he finished 12th again and finished the feature race 7th after a penalty for colliding with Victor Martins. As Jack Doohan had won the previous two feature races Bearman dropped behind him in the championship entering the summer break in 6th place on 100 points 20 points behind 5th placed Victor Martins.
Bearman qualified 6th at Zandvoort. He was classified third in the aborted sprint race. He spun at the start of the feature race after being hit by Juan Manuel Correa but he made his way back up the order. After a safety car restart he overtook Victor Martins into turn two pushing the ART driver slightly into the gravel but Martins came back into turn 3 colliding with Bearman and putting him out of the race with suspension damage. This dented Bearman's title chances as he sat 68 points behind championship leader Theo Pourchaire with 78 remaining.
Bearman qualified second at Monza. He moved from 9th to 6th in the sprint scoring points but with Pourchaire finishing 4th this meant his slim title chances ended as he was 72 points behind Pourchaire with 65 remaining. However in the feature race he overtook Pourchaire at the start and after pitting controlled the race despite 3 safety car restarts to take his 4th win of the season moving him onto 130 points 1 point behind former F3 rival Victor Martins in the fight for Rookie Of The Year. Bearman left Monza 6th in the drivers championship.
Bearman qualified a disappointing 17th for the season finale in Abu Dhabi. He finished the sprint in 10th just missing out on points but the feature race would end in disaster as he retired with an engine failure on lap 20 ending his chance of becoming the Rookie Of The Year for 2023.
Bearman ended 2023 6th in the drivers' championship with 130 points. During the season he secured 4 wins, 5 podiums, 2 pole positions and 2 fastest laps. He also helped Prema secure second in the teams' championship finishing 31 points behind champions ART Grand Prix.
2024
Bearman would remain with Prema Racing for the 2024 season, where his teammate is Mercedes junior and 2023 FRECA champion Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
At the first round in Sakhir, Bearman was only able to qualify in eighteenth. He failed to score in both the sprint and feature races. Bearman set the fastest lap time during qualifying for the Jeddah round, but withdrew to substitute for Carlos Sainz Jr. in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, leaving him last in the Formula 2 championship afterward. Bearman returned to Formula 2 at the next round in Melbourne where he qualified sixteenth. He finished fourteenth in the sprint and ninth in the feature race, scoring his first points of the season.
Formula One
In October 2021, Bearman was named as one of the finalists of the Ferrari Driver Academy's Scouting World Final. The following month, Bearman was confirmed to be joining the Academy along with karting champion Rafael Câmara.
In October 2023, Bearman made his first test in a Formula One car during a private session at Fiorano with Ferrari. He made his free practice debut at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix with Haas F1 Team. He finished 15th, and was only three tenths off Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg. Haas stated they were "very impressed" with his performance. He took part in his second free practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Bearman then drove the VF-23 in the young drivers' test.
On 27 January 2024, Bearman was made Ferrari's reserve driver for the 2024 season, sharing the role with Robert Shwartzman and Antonio Giovinazzi. He was also later confirmed as a reserve driver for Haas.
Race debut with Ferrari (2024)
Bearman made his Formula One debut at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, replacing Carlos Sainz Jr. for the remainder of the event after the latter was diagnosed with appendicitis and withdrew after free practice 2. He qualified eleventh, narrowly missing out on a Q3 appearance, after which he received praise from Lewis Hamilton amongst others. He would go on to finish seventh in the race, earning his first career Formula One points and becoming the youngest driver to score points on debut.ㅤ
Karting record
Karting career summary
Original Wikipedia article last retrieved on 30 March 2024.